The minister of education, Adamu Adamu, has announced that the World Bank has provided a total of $611 million to support the Nigerian government in strengthening universal basic education.
Mr Adamu made this disclosure in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, while speaking at the launch of Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA), a program initiated by the World Bank to support the Nigerian government in strengthening education across the country.
He highlighted that Nigeria has the highest number of the out-of-school children in sub-Saharan Africa, with an estimate of 13.2m.
At the launch were deputy governor of Oyo state, Moses Adeyemo, commissioner for information, culture and tourism, Toye Arulogun, among others.
Mr Adamu, who spoke through the director, Basic Secondary Education in the ministry, Lami Amodu, noted that the government is strengthening the quality of basic education in Nigeria to confront factors that deny children access to basic education.
He commended the World Bank for initiating BESDA and the provision of the sum of $611 million in strengthening Universal Basic Education as well as addressing the first pillar of the Ministerial Strategic Plan (MSP) 2016 – 2019 on out-of-school children.
Mr Adamu said that BESDA focuses on 17 states in the country which includes the entire 13 states of the North West and North East geo-political zones, Niger, Oyo, Ebonyi and Rivers, saying, “It is gratifying that Oyo State is the second among the 17 states that have successfully commenced the implementation process.
