Prosper Okafor, president of Crusade for Greater Nigeria on Poverty Eradication and Social Matters (CFGN) has called for increased girl child education to alleviate poverty in the country.

Mr Okafor made the call in an interview with journalists on Sunday in Abuja.

He urged parents and government at different levels to prioritise the education of young people, especially the girl child.

“When I talk about education, I am not limiting it to official or conventional education but skills acquisition, handwork and others.

“My NGO has facilitated the workshop and training of thousands of youths in different skills just to help them escape poverty and joblessness,” he said.

The poverty alleviation advocate, who commended President Bola Tinubu for devising ways of tackling poverty, appealed for more strategies to empower the people, especially the girl child.

He wondered why some people could not have a basic education in this era.

According to him, the easiest way out of poverty is knowledge, not ignorance.

Mr Okafor, who expressed his willingness to continue to complement the efforts of the government in poverty alleviation, urged Nigerians to rise above poverty.

“It is important for us to help ourselves by taking a self-decision of saying no to poverty by being enterprising no matter how little.”

The poverty rate in Nigeria, according to the World Bank, is 46 per cent representing 104 million poor Nigerians.

(NAN)