The United Nations Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, has condemned the incessant attacks on schools and kidnappings that had affected hundreds of children in the country.
This was part of his message commemorating the 2021 International Day to Protect Education from Attack, in which he described the attacks on schools as a direct attack on Nigeria’s future generations.
The Day aimed at raising awareness of the plight of children in conflict-affected areas, growing up without access to education.
He said that such attacks were traumatic for the children, undermined their individual dignity and could lead the affected families to withdraw them from education completely.
According to him, whenever teaching and learning is disrupted, the impact on human capital development is enormous as the recovery period is always tortuous and longer than the length of the initial disruption.
He urged the government to review the progress made in implementing the Safe Schools’ declaration and fully put into practice commitments made in the 2019 ratification, by taking decisive actions to protect education from attack.
