President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday evening returned to Abuja after joining world leaders in making a firm commitment to increase funding for the education sector at the recent Global Education Summit in London, United Kingdom.
President Buhari also used the opportunity of the trip to undergo a medical check-up in London as was earlier scheduled.
The Global Education Summit, co-hosted by British Prime Minister, Mr Boris Johnson, and President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, successfully generated about four billion dollars out of the targeted five billion dollars for the transformation of the education sector in low-income countries, including Nigeria.
President Buhari, who participated in the activities of the summit, appeared on a panel of discussants with a live audience alongside his counterparts from other African countries, including President Kenyatta, President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, President Faure Eyadema of Togo and President Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi.
The summit focused on topical issues including Education’s Reset – Learning from COVID; Transforming the Child’s Learning Journey; Gender Equality in and Through Education; Ripple Effect – Education’s Impact on Sustainability, and Financing for Impact – Volume, Equity, Efficiency.
At the summit, Buhari pledged to increase the budget for the education sector in Nigeria by as much as 50 per cent over the next two years.
The Nigerian leader stated: “We commit to progressively increase our annual domestic education expenditure by 50 per cent over the next two years and up to 100 per cent by 2025 beyond the 20 per cent global benchmark.”
During his stay in the UK, the president also held bilateral meetings with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Baroness Patricia Scotland, at the sidelines of the Global Education Summit.
According to the president’s spokesman, Femi Adesina, Buhari and Boris Johnson, during the bilateral talks appraised the war against different forms of terrorism in Nigeria, and agreed that the judicial process be allowed to run its course.
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