A non governmental organization, One House Development Initiative has expressed concerns over the rising number of out-of-school children in Osun State, while calling on the government to stem the tide through massive investment into the education sector.
The group, during a stakeholders engagement tagged One House Nation Building Conference held in Osogbo, said over 150,000 out-of-school children and poor ranking of Osun in national examinations are sources of worry.
The event was attended by stakeholders in education sector, development experts and leadership of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities.
According to a communique signed by the Director of the Initiative, Tunbosun Olabomi, education, health and inclusion are three main areas identified to need urgent but utmost attention.
The communique partly reads, “There are challenges in our society that are fast becoming menaces. Education, Health and Inclusion carry a bulk of them.”
Speaking on education in Osun State, OHDI said , “Osun state with a population of about 4.7 million contributes 150,000 to that disastrous number. Lagos with a population estimate of 21 million has 160,000 – barely 10,000 more than ours while Ekiti has just 40,000 with a population of over 2.2 million. If that was multiplied by 2 to match our population, it would be at 80,000 which would still be a whopping 70,000 out-of-school children gap.
“Osun state didn’t get close to being rated top 20 out of 36 states in WAEC according to the data on the website of National Bureau of Statistics which was analyzed by Statisense. The investment we make in the education and health of our children and teenagers is an investment in securing our collective future. The children and teenagers we refuse to educate is equally an investment, except that it is one in the future menace for us all.”
Speaking on health, the Initiative said the current reality in terms of maternal mortality is debilitating.
“Neonatal mortality rate target of the SDG 3 according to its second part is to achieve at least as low as 12 in 1,000. Only 6 states have achieved that with the FCT and Osun state stands at number 7 out of 36. Ebonyi stands at number 1 with just 1 out of 1,000 and that’s according to statisense.
Neonatal mortality which is the number of deaths during the first 28 completed days of life per 1,000 live births in a given year or period (WHO). UNICEF defines it as the probability of dying during the first
28 days of life, expressed per 1,000 live births. Infant mortality is the death of a child within its first year of life. Infant mortality rates are generally regarded as the barometer of the overall population’s health and a high rate indicates the unmet medical needs of a population. According to CIA world Factbook on the countries with the worst infant mortality rates in the world for 2023, Nigeria stands at position 15 at 55.2 per thousand – Osun state contributes to that data. The best infant mortality rates are found in Monaco, Iceland and Japan.
Our People with Disabilities (PWDs) and Special Needs persons are getting marginalized despite being part of our society and they, as a matter of responsibility must be included in everything.
“One House Development Initiative hereby calls on every well-meaning individual and organization to come around and let us discuss our way forward inclusively as a pathway to National Development on the 1st of October, 2024.”
