Atiku Abubakar says poverty is the main cause of insecurity in Nigeria
- A former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, discloses that poverty exists in Nigeria because of illiteracy
- Abubakar says the poverty circle in Nigeria can only be overcome by educating the Nigerian people
- The former vice president says education budgets in the past four years have demonstrated the fact that developing the minds of the Nigerian people is not a priority of the federal government
A former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has said poverty is the main reason why Nigeria is faced with the challenge of insecurity.
Abubakar who was the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last general elections made the statement on Saturday, November 30, when he spoke at the 14th founder’s day celebration of the America University of Nigeria in Yola.
Speaking on the theme: Education: A pathway to exit the dubious record of being the world headquarters for extreme poverty, Atiku said poverty exits in Nigeria because of illiteracy.
He stated that the poverty circle in Nigeria could only be overcome by educating the Nigerian people. The politician noted that for the past four years education budgets have demonstrated the fact that developing the minds of the Nigerian people has not been a priority of the federal government.
“The reason why we have insecurity is because we have poverty, and the reason why we have poverty is because we have illiteracy. It is a cycle that we can only break by educating our people. For the past four years, our education budgets have demonstrated the fact that developing the minds of our people has not been our priority,” he said.
Atiku said a friend of his, Prof. Anya O. Anya, who is a former chief executive officer of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) two weeks ago revealed that Nigeria has taken more loans in the last three years than it has taken in the 30-year period preceding 2016.
The politician questioned why the country should have such a monumental increase in borrowings when compared with an unprecedented reduction in investments in education.
“I am a businessman. Perhaps the first lesson one learns in business is that you do not take loans except it is to expand your business. There is no justification for taking out loans to pay salaries; meanwhile, you are not investing in your future generation," Atiku said.
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The former vice president said instead of doing many things and doing them poorly, it would be better for the Nigerian federal government and the federating units to focus on doing one or two things so that we can do them well.
He urged the federal government to focus on education as a way of making the most significant impact, in the shortest amount of time.
“Education is the principal thing. When we get this right, we will get Nigeria right. The easiest way, to make the most significant impact, in the shortest amount of time, is via education.” Atiku said.
Meanwhile, teachers all over Nigeria without qualifications stipulated by the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) will be shown the way to the door by the end of December 2019.
This was revealed by the registrar of TRCN, Professor Josiah Olusegun Ajiboye, on Friday, November 29, at the University of Ibadan as he was administering the oath of practice on newly inducted teachers.
Ajiboye said that the objective of the federal government is to make future leaders of Nigerian children by improving the standard of education.
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