The House of Representatives, on Tuesday, at plenary adopted a motion calling for the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) to ensure every Nigerian child has access to free and compulsory education.

The lawmakers explained that this was in line with Article 17 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

The motion was moved by Rep. Obi Aguocha (LP-Abia).

Aguocha had argued that it was also in line with Section 15 of the Child’s Rights Act, and Section 2 of the Compulsory Free Universal Basic Education Act, 2004.

Leading the debate, he said the Child’s Rights Act, 2003 and Compulsory Free Universal Basic Education Act, 2004 were enacted in partial fulfillment of state duty to provide education for citizens.

He said that both laws guaranteed the right of every Nigerian child to compulsory basic education from Primary to Junior Secondary School at the expense of the state.

The lawmaker said that the Federal Government was required to contribute 2 per cent of its Consolidated Revenue Fund to the Universal Basic Education Fund (UBEF) annually.

He said that state governments were supposed to access the UBEF through the provision of counterpart funding.

According to him, to ensure compliance with the law, parents and guardians who refuse to allow their children and wards to be educated by the state are liable to prosecution.

The lawmaker said that there was need for UBEC to provide a supervisory role on the scheme and ensure an impressive enrollment of children for basic education in the country.

This, he said, arose from the concern that, in spite of the clear provisions of legislations, the country continued to witness increase in the number of out of school children.

He said that insufficient funding, uneven distribution of resources, poor teacher quality, socio-cultural barriers such as child labour, early marriage, gender bias against girl education also continued.

He said that he was also concerned that millions of children of school age were found on the streets, either begging for alms or hawking goods.

This, he said, was increasing the number of out-of-school children, a situation that would eventually lead to serious crisis in the nearest future.

Aguocha noted that UNICEF, as of September 2024, said that Nigeria had 18.3 million children out of school, one of the highest figures in the world.

According to him, the crisis has continued to worsen due to the escalating insurgency in the North East region, which has led to the closure of schools on account of the abduction of school children.

He said that other causes were the displacement of parents and children, as well as the destruction of schools by the Boko Haram and other terrorist organisations in the country.

The house also resolved to invite the Management of the UBEC to provide a report on the implementation of the scheme.

In his ruling, the Deputy Speaker, Rep. Benjamin Kalu mandated the Committee on Basic Education and Services to ensure compliance.