Efforts to make life better for Nigerian children failing, says Atiku

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has expressed regrets and disappointment that efforts to make life easy and better for the children are yielding abysmal results.

In a message released by his media office in Abuja on Wednesday to congratulate Nigerian children on the occasion of Children’s Day, he noted that this has not been helped by the ongoing global pandemic ravaging the world and which has caused many schools to be partially or completely shut down as the world struggles to curtail the spread.

The former vice president recalled a report released in March 2021 by Save the Children Network, which stated that: “Children across the world have lost an average of one-third (74 days) of education each due to school closure and lack of access to remote learning” and also corroborated by UNESCO findings, which concluded: “Close to half the world’s students are out of school worldwide due to partial or full school closures linked to the coronavirus pandemic.”

According to Atiku, these are not good or encouraging statistics, but added that it is a reminder that a lot of work is needed in this direction to mitigate both the immediate and long-term adverse effects of the coronavirus pandemic on education in all facets but most importantly, those of children.

Atiku went further to say that education is the bedrock of any society, and the pandemic is a wake-up call on administrators and leaders at all levels to do more, by putting in place infrastructure, and making available learning materials in institutions of learning.

He congratulated the children on this memorable day set aside to celebrate them, urging them to be good ambassadors of their parents and country wherever they may be, and wishing them success in their chosen careers and future endeavors.