MacArthur Foundation, a donor organisation supporting good courses globally, has expressed concern about the increasing number of out-of-school children in Nigeria, despite the federal government budgetary allocation of N100 trillion between 1999 to 2022.
According to the not-for-profit organisation, the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria has stepped up from 10.5 million to 18 million.
Speaking in Abuja at a policy dialogue on situating Constituency Projects in the 2023 Electioneering Campaigns yesterday,the foundation’s Deputy Director, Nigeria Office, Dayo Olaide, queried the federal government on the trillions of naira budgetary allocations.
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“Nigerians when they wake up every morning, they are asking themselves, what does this budget mean for me as a person,” Olaide said during the dialogue hosted by OrderPaper, an online news platform, in partnership with Budgit and MacArthur Foundation.
On his part, Budgit’s Country Director, Gabriel Okiewu, added that despite 469 federal lawmakers, 36 governors, House of Assembly members and local government chairmen and councilors, “it’s so disheartening that people’s needs are not being captured.”
Okiewu, represented by Adewale Adejola, emphasized the necessity to reclaim citizen’s confidence in governance and democracy.
