Bishop’s wife urges govt to tackle rising out-of-school children

Governments at all levels have been urged to prioritise basic education, as concerns grow over the increasing number of out-of-school children across Nigeria.

This appeal was made by the wife of the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Lagos West, Dr Lydia Kemi Odedeji, who called for a state of emergency in Nigeria’s education sector to address the worsening decay, while also condemning attacks on schools by criminals and bandits.

Odedeji, who made the call during her presidential address at the 26th Annual Women’s Conference of the diocese, noted that recent reports from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reveal that Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children globally — with 10.2 million at the primary level, and another 8.1 million lacking access to education at the junior secondary level.

She attributed the situation largely to poverty and insecurity in parts of the country, while calling on members of the National Assembly to demonstrate greater concern about the alarming statistics by passing bills that would drastically reduce the figures.

“Something must be urgently done to reverse this ugly trend, as we may be sitting on a keg of gunpowder. The explosion might be severe and consume even those who move around with a retinue of security personnel,” Odedeji warned.

The Bishop’s wife, who also serves as President of the Women’s Organisations in the Diocese, commended the Federal Government for introducing the students’ loan initiative that covers public universities, while urging that similar interventions be extended to the primary and secondary levels in the form of free education.

Speaking on the theme of the conference, “Do not give place to the Enemy,” Odedeji urged parents to embrace positive parenting as a means of curbing youth crime.

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She also enjoined mothers to take seriously their responsibility of Godly upbringing, stressing the importance of “catching them young for God” in order to build a peaceful and productive society.

Turning to politics, she stated that campaigns for the 2027 general election are already gathering momentum, but appealed to governments at all levels to prioritise governance over politicking, while also calling for increased participation of women in politics.

Earlier at the welcome service, the Bishop of the Diocese, the Right Reverend James Odedeji, urged women not to allow the enemy to steal their joy, weaken their faith, or destroy their relationship with God.

Quoting various scriptures, he emphasised that Satan can only operate in a person’s life when given permission.

He listed some of the enemy’s tactics as weakness, sin, temptation, idle words, gossip, division, condemnation, fear, and doubt.

The Bishop urged the women to “put on the full armour of God, submit to Him, and resist the devil by guarding their hearts through prayer, walking in the light, and remaining rooted in the Word.”

Dignitaries at the event held at the Caroline Adebiyi Women’s Conference Centre in Ipaja, Lagos State, included the wives of the bishops of Lagos Mainland, Mrs Olabo Johnson, and Mrs Bimbola Oludipe of the diocese of Ijebu.

Other personalities were Patrons and the dean of the Cathedral The Ven Dr Ebenezer Adewole, administrative Archdeacons in the diocese.

The Star