The Senate, on Thursday, blamed the source of insecurity in the country on the huge number of out-of-school children in the country, calling for a national summit to address the menace.
President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, said if the menace of out-of-school children in the country can be brought under control if the country will be safer for all to live.
Responding to the reports of the Committee on Education (Basic and Secondary) submitted by Senator Usman Lawal Adamu (Kaduna Central), Akpabio said the out-of-school children are potential bandits tomorrow and that Nigerians should be worried about the problem.
“If the elites continue to pay lip service to the problem, they will pay for it in the future with the lives of those their children they trained abroad who might be killed by these out of school children when they come back to Nigeria.
“So many senators cannot even visit their villages in the north because of insecurity caused by out of school children already,” he said.
Akpabio warned that Nigerians, especially in the north, cannot continue to do nothing with millions of these children out-of-school.
Senator Henry Serieke Dickson, while making his contribution, called on the senate to convene a National Summit on the matter to be chaired by the Senate President to find a lasting solution to it.
The Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin, in his contribution, said the out of school children is a time bomb that when it explodes, “would consume all of us, particularly in the Northern part of this country.”
He said; “The number of children roaming our streets without going to school needs our attention, it is a serious problem. It is a problem that the solution is beyond the federal government alone or any tier of government. It should have an all-inclusive attention. Local, state and federal governments, traditional and religious leaders, and even parents all have a role to play,” he said.
Jibrin added that the Federal Government should also make sure that there is reorientation for parents to know that they have to train their children properly, as prescribed by two prominent religions in the country – Islam and Christianity.
“Religions give that responsibility to the parents to make sure that they take care of their children. So, allowing kids to roam on the streets in the first place is not something that Islam accepts without giving them the proper care. It is also something that is not acceptable to Christianity. That has to be said loud and clear,” he said.
Senator Adamu said the almost 20 million out-of-school children in Nigeria contribute a major threat to the security of the country.
Responding to questions from journalists after the plenary, Adamu said parents must be made to know the importance of education for their children, adding that after all, they would be the first beneficiary of an educated child before the society.
