The Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, has said the Federal Government is committed to actualising basic education, life-long learning and other components of the Sustainable Development Goals before the 2030 deadline.
Nwajiuba said Nigeria must achieve the SDGs in order to avoid the “terrible” consequences of the neglect of our youths,” adding that education had always been central in the fight against ignorance and disease.
He said this in Abuja on Wednesday during the maiden International Conference of the Faculty of Education, National Open University of Nigeria.
The conference was themed, ‘Revitalising education for the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa.’
The minister said, “The challenges of social and economic development in Africa are multi-faceted, complex and highly intricate. The fact that education, technology, teacher education and training are so central to achieving sustainable economic development cannot be over-emphasised.
“Unfortunately, Nigeria could not fulfill the criteria set out for the Millennium Development Goals. It is our hope that the current SDGs will reach the targets before 2030. The SDGs address new problems and strengthen the overall education system.
“The Federal Ministry of Education will support the attainment of these goals. The future of this continent depends on the attainment of the SDGs. In order to avoid the terrible consequences of the neglect of this generation dominated by the youths, all hands must be on the deck.”
The Vice-Chancellor of NOUN, Prof Abdalla Adamu, in his remarks, said that, of all the 17 SDGs, goal number four, which focuses on qualitative and inclusive education, stands out above the rest.
“An inclusive and quality education is one that focuses on the whole child – the social, the emotional, mental, physical and cognitive development of each student regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, socio-economic status,” the VC said.
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