Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said in Abuja Thursday that the northern part of the country has the highest rate of illiteracy rate in the country with 70 percent of its people uneducated.
Atiku, who spoke at a public presentation of a book “Re-thinking the Legal Framework for Rights of Women and Girl-Child in Nigeria,” in honour of His wife, Amina Titi Atiku Abubakar, also said that 38 percent of women in Nigeria lack formal education while only four percent of them have higher education.
The All Progressives Congress presidential candidate explained that 10 million Nigerian children are currently out of school with women constituting 60 percent of them, saying about 22 percent of teenage girls in Nigeria have at least one unwanted pregnancy.
Atiku who spoke on the title “Protecting the Rights of Nigerian a Women and the Girl Child Amidst Insecurity,” said the development is more prevalent in the north than in the southern part of the country.
He said, “There is no doubt that the rights of women and girls need to be protected and promoted. As a country, we are currently not doing enough in that regard, not in educating them, not in promoting and caring for their health and not in dealing with crimes against them such as rape and several others.
“WOTCLEF believes that every child has a right to life, to education, to leisure, to recreational activities and to develop mentally and emotionally, and to protection from any form of harm.
“Perhaps no greater harm can be done to a girl-child than denying her an education. And it is also a great harm to the society. Educating girls is vital because girls who acquire education tend to become better mothers, have fewer and healthier children.
“Indeed, as UNICEF points out, every additional year of schooling reduces the probability of child mortality by five to ten percent. And if you look around your various communities you are likely to find that children whose mothers are educated tend to be educated themselves.
“Figures from the United Nations, national reports and studies initiated by non-governmental organizations always show that girls, as a group, have lower literacy rates, received less health care, and are often more impoverished than boys. The UNESCO estimates that over 100 million girls in low and middle income countries cannot read a sentence.”

thenationonlineng.net/new/70-of-northerners-are-illiterates-atiku/

BuddahMonk:
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said in Abuja Thursday that the northern part of the country has the highest rate of illiteracy rate in the country with 70 percent of its people uneducated.
Atiku, who spoke at a public presentation of a book “Re-thinking the Legal Framework for Rights of Women and Girl-Child in Nigeria,” in honour of His wife, Amina Titi Atiku Abubakar, also said that 38 percent of women in Nigeria lack formal education while only four percent of them have higher education.
The All Progressives Congress presidential candidate explained that 10 million Nigerian children are currently out of school with women constituting 60 percent of them, saying about 22 percent of teenage girls in Nigeria have at least one unwanted pregnancy.
Atiku who spoke on the title “Protecting the Rights of Nigerian a Women and the Girl Child Amidst Insecurity,” said the development is more prevalent in the north than in the southern part of the country.
He said, “There is no doubt that the rights of women and girls need to be protected and promoted. As a country, we are currently not doing enough in that regard, not in educating them, not in promoting and caring for their health and not in dealing with crimes against them such as rape and several others.
“WOTCLEF believes that every child has a right to life, to education, to leisure, to recreational activities and to develop mentally and emotionally, and to protection from any form of harm.
“Perhaps no greater harm can be done to a girl-child than denying her an education. And it is also a great harm to the society. Educating girls is vital because girls who acquire education tend to become better mothers, have fewer and healthier children.
“Indeed, as UNICEF points out, every additional year of schooling reduces the probability of child mortality by five to ten percent. And if you look around your various communities you are likely to find that children whose mothers are educated tend to be educated themselves.
“Figures from the United Nations, national reports and studies initiated by non-governmental organizations always show that girls, as a group, have lower literacy rates, received less health care, and are often more impoverished than boys. The UNESCO estimates that over 100 million girls in low and middle income countries cannot read a sentence.”

thenationonlineng.net/new/70-of-northerners-are-illiterates-atiku/

Na Goodluck fault, he underfunded Education for northerners since 1960.

"If they were independent countries, some of Nigeria’s northern states would rank bottom globally in terms of development, even though the country is the seventh-biggest oil producer in OPEC. Nowhere else in the world are more children out of school. Fewer than 5% of women in some parts can read or write. Estimates put three out of four residents in the north-east below the poverty line, around twice as many as at the southern end of the country. “Boko Haram is a reflection of the deeper crisis in the"

http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21627646-africas-lodestar-nation-has-weathered-ebola-extremist-takeover-has-exposed

Na lie nobi GEJ na Igbos cause am, waiting for Junaid MohaMadman and Hell Tufia to come and spin their hate machines, Igbos have dominated the education sector too and refuse the gambari from going to school just like they dominated the economy and stop the gambari from acquiring landed properties.

Nigeria stinks of hate and vindictiveness.

atlwireles:



Na Goodluck fault, he underfunded Education for northerners since 1960.

Someone should ask Atiku who is to blame for this gross inequality?

BuddahMonk:
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said in Abuja Thursday that the northern part of the country has the highest rate of illiteracy rate in the country with 70 percent of its people uneducated.
Atiku, who spoke at a public presentation of a book “Re-thinking the Legal Framework for Rights of Women and Girl-Child in Nigeria,” in honour of His wife, Amina Titi Atiku Abubakar, also said that 38 percent of women in Nigeria lack formal education while only four percent of them have higher education.
The All Progressives Congress presidential candidate explained that 10 million Nigerian children are currently out of school with women constituting 60 percent of them, saying about 22 percent of teenage girls in Nigeria have at least one unwanted pregnancy.
Atiku who spoke on the title “Protecting the Rights of Nigerian a Women and the Girl Child Amidst Insecurity,” said the development is more prevalent in the north than in the southern part of the country.
He said, “There is no doubt that the rights of women and girls need to be protected and promoted. As a country, we are currently not doing enough in that regard, not in educating them, not in promoting and caring for their health and not in dealing with crimes against them such as rape and several others.
“WOTCLEF believes that every child has a right to life, to education, to leisure, to recreational activities and to develop mentally and emotionally, and to protection from any form of harm.
“Perhaps no greater harm can be done to a girl-child than denying her an education. And it is also a great harm to the society. Educating girls is vital because girls who acquire education tend to become better mothers, have fewer and healthier children.
“Indeed, as UNICEF points out, every additional year of schooling reduces the probability of child mortality by five to ten percent. And if you look around your various communities you are likely to find that children whose mothers are educated tend to be educated themselves.
“Figures from the United Nations, national reports and studies initiated by non-governmental organizations always show that girls, as a group, have lower literacy rates, received less health care, and are often more impoverished than boys. The UNESCO estimates that over 100 million girls in low and middle income countries cannot read a sentence.”

thenationonlineng.net/new/70-of-northerners-are-illiterates-atiku/

Haba! he slashed it. 90% I think Is the actual percentage. in that those that Went to school may still be considered illiterates.

This is bad news,but who are we to blame is it the past leaders or the northerners or Gej Or IGBO's?

Wonders shall never cease!

Who is to b blamed here. Wen the Gambari's influential few have brain washed their ppl to thinking western education is corrupt. They prefer marrying their daughters off at 13yrs. Dat y dey hav d highest cases of VVF in d country.

Is johnathan fault because he is the one that teach the north that western education is sin

What Atiku said is no longer news as the whole world knows that.

You mean this statistics came from Hatiku?

Picture and video footage or...you know the rest

Your brand of islam is the problem sir! This is also one reason why boko menace will be here for a long while. Over 2 million almajiris in kano alone! Recruitment wont be that hard.

And they want to rule Nigeria. . .

Shame on nigeria leaders both past and present oNe especially that sir bello ahmdu I can still remember when chief awolowo introduced free education these useless old man busy mocking baba awo busy claimed nigeria should be their inheritance can you imagine hausa man will say english language is a fool

Yet the region that led Nigeria for a greater chunk of its existence and has consistently mass produced illiteracy and poverty is the region clamouring to lead again.

My question is: if they couldn't get their wards educated and fed for over 38 years, who else do they want to educate and feed? Isn't allowing a people who have failed woefully access to leadership akin to turning a pyramid upside down and expecting stability out of such impossibility? In my opinion it is complete madness to allow a people whose only achievement in the last 54 years is an over-supply of Almajiri and unrestrained massacre of fellow countrymen access to Aso Rock. Perhaps its better to let them lead their region however they deem fit while we lead ours.

Atiku is very rich, let him tell us how much he has committed in the last ten years to ameliorate the problems he enumerated. Nigerian nation is no Santa Claus and this idiotic belief that Nigeria owes any man food on his table is shear buffoonery. A nation provides a level playing field for all, anything beyond that is called personal choice. If the north is uneducated its simply because they don't value education. If they're unfed while their counterparts in the south are fed is because they're either lazy or not fully evolved yet.

We're not a nation at war with or without Boko Haram. And even if we were, Nigeria's civil war victims and other victims globally should be a guide to the resilience of any people who truly are bent on not being left behind regardless of the situation. Eastern Nigeria went through hell-fire, and one which the north and their collaborators instituted, and yet managed to ride out of that hell and in 3 to 5 years restored education and food for their children. Who's stopping the north from replicating Eastern Nigerians' feat in peace time?

Truth is that the real desires of these northern pretenders have absolutely nothing to do with bettering the lives of Nigerians. They simply want a strong hold on Nigeria's leadership. Give them power now and come back in the next 20 years, I bet you'll still hear the same idiotic stories on how they want to provide education and whatnot - but by then Almajiri would have ballooned to 50 million with its associated astronomical illiteracy rate.

Who said Gideon Orka was not right?

Northerners are their own problem...for heaven sakes they ruled the country for about 38years yet 70% are illiterate...

I guess GEJ should be blamed for this also, since he has been in power since 1960...

The so called northern elites/ruling class are just hypocrites...

So Buhari, the Katsina cattle rearer didn't provide his people with good and quality education?

Stale gist...

These are just avenues to get the FG to make donations for the northerners while the northern elites siphon the funds.
no be today .
The elites keep impoverishing them, in turn they use those statistics to coax the FG into making more allocations that will end up in few pockets.
victim mentality

GEJ has marginalised the North

Illiteracy is a disease. The backwardness of the Northern Nigeria is the result of the Book haram. Shame!!!!!

Built2last:
Someone should ask Atiku who is to blame for this gross inequality?

making a telephone call
Atiku: hello.
Me: am from Nairaland forum Someone mandated me to ask you; who should be blamed for educational backwardness in northern Nigerian?
Atiku: Jonathan and PDP should be blamed for it.
Me: your were in PDP and a VP for eight years, what did you do to promote education in your region?
Atiku: i established the most expensive university in Nigeria.
Bros i don ask am na PDP and Oga jona cause am

The actual figure should be around 20% when we consider the fact that they don't accept western education. These northerners have hausa as their language and it is enough to communicate all they ever find 'Holy', so what's the point rating them on a scale calibrated with, according to them, 'western' education?
To me, it is a subtle and low form of political campaign by Atiku. In the early part of our nationhood they negotiated all sort of economic goodies for themselves under the guise of catching up with the rest of Nigeria educationally, and some 50 yrs later when they are yet to catch up, they are happy to brandish their illiteracy figure in a bid to hold onto the 'cake'. The guy will be worse than Gej if given a chance.

its no news, after all they said western education is evil, that really serves them right

InyinyaAgbaOku:
These are just avenues to get the FG to make donations for the northerners while the northern elites siphon the funds.
no be today .
The elites keep impoverishing them, in turn they use those statistics to coax the FG into making more allocations that will end up in few pockets.
victim mentality

I agree with you without reservations.
Nairalanders,Please help me ask Mr COJAGATE,our Presidential hopeful how many notherners can afford his ABTI-AMERICAN University of Nigerian(AUN)

Boko Haram wants to increase the percent to "100 % of Northerners to be illiterate "

... And APC is applauding them simply because Jonathan is president. Okay oo!

Almajirism the bane of Northern development

Unfortunately, some are educated illiterates.

What did he do about this when he was VP?

so afta ruling for over 30 years. illiteracy is high n how did atiju help d situation wen he was vp