Activist advocates girl-child education in Nigeria

Human rights activist, Dr. Otive Igbuzor, has advocated girl-child education in order to reduce maternal mortality rate in the society ,Nigeria.

 In a statement made available to our correspondent, Igbuzor said there was a correlation between education and maternal mortality rate. He said, “If a woman is educated, the possibility of dying an avoidable death is reduced. That is why girl -child education must be encouraged.’’

 He said this in Abuja in a keynote address at the 6th anniversary and award of scholarship to some less privileged children by the Emoeferotu Foundation.

Beyond the encouraging girl-child education, Igbuzor added that lack of access to education had kept many Nigerian children out of school, especially, the less privileged ones. This anomaly, he said, must be addressed for the country to actualise its dreams of becoming a developed nation.

 He said government must allocate a substantial percentage of its annual budget to education to enable the millions of children that were roaming the streets have access to qualitative education.

 He said, ‘‘Access is a big problem. Quality and funding are issues that must be addressed, for every child that is up to school age to be in school and not just receive education but quality education. The quality of education in Nigeria is lamentable.”