From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja

Akpabio made the disclosure at the National Assembly yesterday while addressing children at the Senate chamber in commemoration of the 2025 Children’s Day.

The Senate had earlier suspended its rules to admit the children into the chamber.

Addressing the school children, the Senate President urged them to shun drugs, dream big, work hard and never give up on their aspirations.

“We pledge to prioritise policies and programmes that protect their rights and  potentials,” he assured. He wished them “joy, happiness and love” in their future, adding, “We are committed to supporting you all the steps of the way.”

The children, in appreciation of the recognition by the Senate, made separate presentations to express their gratitude. They, thereafter, received individual handshakes from the lawmakers.

Earlier, the Senate called on the Federal Ministry of Education, in collaboration with State Ministries of Education and the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), to strengthen efforts towards ensuring free, compulsory, and quality education for all Nigerian children.

It said the risk of national instability that stems from neglecting the child population manifesting in rising youth unemployment, radicalisation, gender disparities, and multi-generational poverty is troubling.

This was sequel to the adoption of resolutions of a motion sponsored by the chairman of the Senate Committee on Women Affairs, Ireti Kingibe to mark this year’s International Children’s Day with a strong and deliberate stance on child education and development.

The Senate urged the Federal Government to introduce and implement a National Skills for Children Initiative, targeting early development in ICT literacy, craft entrepreneurship, creative arts, and problem-solving, starting from primary schools.

It also mandated its Committees on Basic Education, Youth Development, and Legislative Compliance, to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the status of child education and development initiatives across the country and report back with actionable recommendations.

Furthermore, the Green Chamber encouraged all the 36 states and the FCT to commemorate Children’s Day with concrete policy actions, including the commissioning of new schools, introduction of child mentorship programmes and improvements to health and feeding schemes in schools.

Finally, the legislators urged the Ministry of Finance and Budget Planning to prioritise increased funding for child education and skills development in the 2026 national budget cycle.

Kingibe reminded her colleagues that children are the bedrock of the nation’s future, and that their welfare, educational, emotional, physical and economic, must be treated as a national priority.

“Children’s Day must be more than symbolic,” the Senator declared. “It must be a rallying point for real action.”

The Senate expressed deep concern that as of 2024, Nigeria holds the highest number of out-of-school children in the world, estimated at 10 million. Many more children, it noted, are subjected to poor infrastructure, inadequate learning environments and lack of exposure to vocational and digital skills.

The chamber unanimously agreed that education remains the most effective weapon against poverty, inequality and insecurity.