By Kehinde Emmanuel
Former Kwara State governorship aspirant, Engineer Sunday Adebayo Babalola, has canvassed for more commitments by stakeholders to education development in Nigeria.
He stated that education is the bedrock of society, adding that quality and accessible education would advance the country.
In his goodwill message after receiving ‘Outstanding Philanthropist award 2024 by Progressives Media in Lagos on Thursday, Babalola lauded President Bola Tinubu, over his promise to address the high number of out-of-school-children in Nigeria.
He thanked the organisers of the award for finding BBBF meritorious of the award.
Babalola, the co-founder of Bayo & Bunmi Babalola Foundation (BBBF) pleaded with him to match action with words and ensure the realization of his promise.
Recall that Tinubu made the promise during a dialogue with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Palais des Élysées, according to a statement by the presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga.
In a report released in September 2022, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) said there were 20 million out-of-school children in Nigeria.
Other award winners included: Dr. Fatima Zanna Gana; Queen Halima Adenike Tejuosho; Hajiya Ummusalma Isiaka Rabiu; Ambassador Bello Buhari Ibrahim.
The event also featured Seyi Tinubu National Essay award ceremony where successful pupils who participated during the October 2024 essay competition received awards.
Babalola said: “I sincerely thank the organisers of this award for finding BBBF meritorious of the award. I value the award as well as the organisers. Bayo & Bunmi Babalola Foundation (BBBF) is a charity non-governmental organization that was founded in 2014. It is jointly founded and co-sponsored by me and my darling wife, Pastor Mrs. Christiana Bunmi Babalola.
“The vision is to help others put smiles on people’s faces and affect lives positively. It is anchored on Luke 12: 48 “To whom much is given, much is expected from.
“Since its inception till date, BBBF has given scholarships to over 3,115 beneficiaries in primary, junior secondary and senior secondary schools as well as in tertiary institutions in the country. It has also renovated many schools and provided boreholes in communities.
“May I call on the federal government, the National Assembly, the 36 states in the country, the Federal Capital Territory and the 774 local governments in the country to provide more budgetary allocations to the education sector.
“I particularly call on the National Assembly to ensure that sufficient budgetary allocation is accorded to the education sector in the N47.9 trillion budget of the federal government for 2025.
“The 20 million estimate for the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is an unsavoury development . It becomes more heartbreaking when considering that the out-of-school children in Nigeria, about 10.5 million of them aged 5-14 years are not in school as recorded by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in 2020. This presents a breeding ground for more insecurity in the country.
“It is debilitating that Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world, making up one in five of the world’s out-of-school children and that the situation is particularly challenging in the north of the country, where the net attendance rate is only 53%”, he said.
