Obi said northern children’s ability to master the Islamic holy book indicated they would be able to master skills to hike out of poverty. “
By Deborah Hassan
365Daily – The presidential candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi, has expressed confidence in the intellectual capacity of children in northern Nigeria.
He said if elected as Nigeria’s president in 2023, he would exploit improve their akills to provide them a pathway out of poverty.
Obi explained at a televised dialogue on Arise TV, that northern children’s ability to master the Islamic holy book and recite them is a pointer that they can master skills to lift them out of poverty.
“If they can learn Quran, it means they are intelligent….I will meet them where they are learning Quran” and let them know they can have skills.
“What we need to do, other than increased investment in education, is also to have increased inspection across state and local government,” the former Anambra State Governor said.
Accorsing to UNICEF, education in northern Nigeria has been performing the least in the whole country for decades, with a substantial majority of the country’s out-of-school children being from the region.
Mr Obi has repeatedly suggested that education in Nigeria could play a major role in piloting the country out of endemic poverty and deprivation.
As part of his plan to reduce poverty in Nigeria, he has said he would allocate 10 percent to education in the national budget if he becomes president of Nigeria.