The Nigerian Children’s Parliament has urged the federal government to allocate the savings from petroleum subsidy removal towards enhancing access to quality education at all levels in the 2025 budget.
Meanwhile, the Committee on Polytechnics and other Technical Education has threatened sanctions against five federal polytechnics for neglecting invitations to present their budget performances.
A mock plenary session presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Ibrahim Zanna is part of activities for this year’s National Children’s Conference.
A motion was raised on the urgent need for the Nigerian Government to reinvest savings from the Removal of Petroleum Subsidy into Education, Health, infrastructure and Welfare of Children for Sustainable Development.
This call to action aligns with UNICEF’s concerns about Nigeria’s education crisis, where 10.5 million children are out of school – the highest rate globally.
The Children’s parliament suggests transforming Nigeria’s education system through adequate funding, ensuring safe schools, and implementing gender-responsive policies.
The Parliament also advocated for the establishment of dedicated welfare programmes to address the nutritional, psychological, and social needs of Nigerian children.
The motion received members’ support and was adopted.
The House Committee on Education has issued a stern warning to five federal polytechnics, threatening to take drastic measures against them for failing to appear before the committee to scrutinize their records.
Sections 89 and 129 of the Nigerian constitution empowers the national assembly to investigate, procure evidence, require the evidence to be given on oath, summon anyone to give evidence or produce documents and issue a warrant to compel the attendance of any such witness.
