The Managing Director of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Umaru Ibrahim, has identified the provision of quality education to millions of Nigerian youths as a strategic option of curbing violence and insecurity challenges in the country.
Ibrahim gave the panacea in an address he delivered as the keynote speaker at the 15th Graduation Ceremony of Zaria Academy, Shika, Kaduna State, where a science laboratory built and equipped by the Corporation was formally commissioned as part of its corporate social responsibility initiative.
The Corporation’s Head, Communications and Public Affairs, Mohammed Kudu Ibrahim, quoted the corporation’s boss as lamenting the upsurge in violent crimes and other challenges of insecurity especially among youths in the country and noting that the situation could be attributed to poor and weak educational system.
Ibrahim charged all stakeholders to provide support for and guarantee qualitative education for millions of the nation’s youths to prepare them for gainful employment opportunities and better living conditions.
Describing the near complete reliance on government alone for delivery of quality education as unrealistic, the deposit insurance expert urged the private sector to compliment government efforts in ensuring that the educational system produces graduates that are not only employable, but also adaptable to the rapidly changing global economy.
According to him, the NDIC’s acceptance of the request from the Zaria Academy for the construction and equipping of its Science Laboratories which were razed by fire about two years ago is partly based on the nation’s squalid education situation, especially in the Northern states.
Ibrahim expressed delight that the NDIC’s modest intervention in the institution largely contributed to the successes of the last two sets of graduates from the academy.
On the low standard of education and the low rate of Senior Secondary School enrolment in the Northern states, he charged the state governors in the region to improve the educational standards of their states and also offer scholarships to bright but indigent students.
