Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said education is the best ticket to the full enjoyment of all human civil, socio-political and economic rights.

Mr Osinbajo made this assertion on Saturday at an event organised by Mallpai Foundation in Abuja.

“So, when we talk about human rights that have been declared, the only way to access those rights, including economic rights, is by education at the most basic level,” the vice president said at the Foundation’s 2021 Literacy Day, with the theme: “Promoting Literacy for Better Education in Nigeria.”

“The ability to read and write, not just in one’s own language, but other global languages is crucial; to be deprived of education is to be deprived of means of pursuit of a dignified existence.

“It is the only means where one can fully contest or collaborate with others for the benefits that life offers and it is so important for us, especially those who are policy makers.

Mr Osinbajo charged leaders to determinedly pursue mass literacy for their people, especially the women. He said educating women has a multiplier effect on society.

“We owe our people the duty to educate them, we owe our people the duty to lift their minds to the level where they can benefit maximally from their environment and give benefits to others.

“Every study, every survey that you have seen confirms that education, especially of women, has a multiplier effect on everything around them.

“If you educate a woman, she transforms her environment completely. It usually means a longer life span for herself and for her children.

“It means they are less likely to die of communicable diseases, since they understand the modern practices of hygiene and sanitation and follow useful material on healthcare,” he said.

The vice president commended the Foundation, promoted by wife of Kebbi governor, Aisha Atiku Bagudu, for its initiative towards improving people’s access to education despite the extremely conservative culture they are working in.

On his part, Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu said his administration has been able to challenge the best brains to take charge of administering education in the state.

“These professors accepted and today 21 Local Education Authorities in Kebbi State are led by dons from across different universities.

“The remarkable success recorded is that they were able to face the challenges as trusted and able to look at the government, to say we can do better here and differently,” Mr Bagudu said.

The Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, said that what the Foundation had done was expected of everybody, saying “government is all of us”.

The event attracted people from all walks of life and featured panel discussion on policies aimed at reshaping the education of the girl-child.

MALLPAI means “Mass Literacy for the Less Privileged and Almajiri Initiative”. 

(NAN)