On May 15, 2025, Professor Osifunke Sekinah Ekundayo of the University of Ibadan delivered the institution’s 580th Inaugural Lecture, titled “Speaking Up for the Numerous Voiceless Children Shut Out of School in Nigeria: An Endless Odyssey?” at Trenchard Hall.
She called for a constitutional amendment to make free and compulsory basic education a legally enforceable right for Nigerian children.
This, she argued, would empower citizens to hold the government accountable and enable courts to uphold children’s right to education.
Professor Ekundayo stated that Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children globally, with estimates indicating that one in every five out-of-school children worldwide is Nigerian.
She noted that only 61% of children aged six to eleven attend primary school regularly, leaving approximately 10.2 million children of primary school age out of school.
She identified several factors contributing to this crisis, including poverty, inadequate educational infrastructure, cultural and religious practices, internal conflicts, and insufficient budgetary allocations for education.
Professor Ekundayo added that the state’s failure to provide free and quality education perpetuates a cycle of poverty, limiting the nation’s development potential.
