Foundation puts Nigeria’s out-of-school children at 18m, despite N100tn budget since 1999

The John MacArthur Foundation, a private foundation that gives grants and investments to support non-profit organizations in over 50 countries around the world, including Nigeria, has put the number of current out-of-school children in the country at 18 million, jumping from 10.5 million in 2021.

The foundation, at an interactive session in Abuja on Thursday, said the situation was more worrisome despite the Federal Government budgeting over N100 trillion from 1999 to 2022.

The Deputy Director of the Nigeria Office of the MacArthur Foundation, Dayo Olaide, while speaking at a policy dialogue with the theme “Constituency Projects in the 2023 Electioneering Campaigns,” questioned the huge amount the country had budgeted over the years and why there has been no significant improvement in the educational sector in the country.

“Where are those over N100 trillion gone to?” Olaide asked?

Read also: Again, Obasanjo draws FG’s attention to 15m out-of-school children in Nigeria

“Nigerians when they wake up every morning, they are asking themselves, what does this budget mean for me as a person?” He added.

Also speaking at the session, the Country Director for Budgit, Gabriel Okiewu, said despite Nigeria having 469 federal lawmakers, 36 governors, House of Assembly members and local government chairmen and councilors, it was so disheartening that people’s needs are not being captured.

“We see that empowerment projects take more than 60% of the N100bn allocation for constituency projects every year,” he said.

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