By Luminous Jannamike

ABUJA – In the wake of World Literacy Day (WLD) 2023, the National Association of Seadogs, Sahara Deck, has called on the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike, to take education as a priority area in his administration.

In a statement, Mr. Olamide Oni, the Capoon of Sahara Deck, expressed concerns over the state of public schools in Nigeria.

He lamented, “Most of our public schools, especially at the primary and secondary levels, are either suffering from poor staffing or poor infrastructure.

“The learning environment is usually not conducive for something as important as education.

“Private schools that are largely above the reach of the average person have become the order of the day.”

Oni explained that the association’s focus for this year’s World Literacy Day (WLD), themed ‘Empowering Communities Through Literacy’, aims to address the growing literacy deficit, especially among young people.

In light of this, the Seadogs, also known as the Pyrates Confraternity, urged the FCT administration to review the curriculum to ensure that it meets the required standards.

The organization also provided a series of other recommendations, including taking stock of the number of primary and secondary schools in all area councils, identifying both infrastructure and staffing gaps in these schools, and enforcing a strict ban on child hawking and trading during school hours.

“We are drawing the attention of the education authorities in the FCT to look critically at the government schools in and around the FCT, especially those located in the outskirts of the city.

“Empowering communities through literacy would require a determined, consistent, and well laid out strategy to address both formal and informal ways of encouraging literacy, especially among the young,” Oni continued.

In a bid to contribute to driving literacy, he disclosed that the organization has embarked on numerous projects.

These, according to him, include the ‘Adopt a Child School Campaign’ to assist indigent students in care homes to get education, provision of learning materials at the Abuja home for children in Karu, renovation of classrooms and installation of educational materials at GSS Kuje, and provision of educational items to School of the blind, Jabi, Abuja.

Consequently, Oni emphasized that all hands must be on deck in building a literate society, and that special focus should be given to schools in the outskirts of the FCT where facilities are generally poor and teachers are in short supply.

He also urged all Local Government Area Councils in the country to organize at least two events annually that consciously seek to promote literacy, expressing hope that with deliberate efforts, the literacy level of the citizens can significantly improve.