By John Alechenu
ABUJA—The presidential candidate of Labour Party, LP, in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, has decried the ongoing industrial action embarked upon by public primary school teachers in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, saying it had gone on for too long.
Obi expressed disappointment that the strike, which has forced school children to remain at home for three long months, was happening at a time the FCT administration was spending billions of naira renovating a conference centre.
In a post on his X handle yesterday, Obi said: “The most critical and immeasurable component of human development today is education. It is a known and verifiable study that the more educated a nation is, the more developed it is.
“Consequently, the most important investment and Policy a nation requires is educating its people, especially children, to secure their future.
“Nigeria was not only a signatory Millinum Development Goals, MDG, and Sustainable Development Goals which emphatically emphasised education as a critical development yardstick, but also has as law Universal Basic Education, which means every child should have access to quality basic education.
“Yet, right here in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, public primary school pupils have been out of school for over three months due to a strike.
“When the strike began, we all thought, ‘this is Abuja; it will only last for a day or two’ but here we are, three months later, our children are still at home and we are busy renovating the infrastructure.
“The foundation of societal development is educated citizenry, not physical infrastructure. True development is about building people, it is about educating the next generation.”
“A nation that ignores its children’s education is digging deeper into poverty, insecurity and underdevelopment.
“We must prioritise investment in human capital, especially in basic education, healthcare, and pulling people out of poverty. That is how nations grow. That is how we build the New Nigeria that is possible.”
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