Mrs. Saraki advocates for increased investment in literacy
Taiwo Owoeye
Wife of the Nigeria Senate President, Mrs. Toyin Saraki, has underscored the importance of education in national development and called on government at all levels to increase investment in literacy because it is “capable of leading the country into a higher level of economic self-sufficiency, poverty reduction and sustainable development.”
Mrs Saraki, who is also the President of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA), according to a statement from her Press office, stated this in her speech as the Special Guest of Honour at the closing ceremony of the President’s Inter-University Secondary Schools Debate Championship national finals held in Keffi, Nasarawa State recently.
She noted that education is only effective when it is founded on the key elements of literacy.
Mrs. Saraki said: “Without literacy, we would not be here today to celebrate and participate in the national finals of the President’s Inter-University Secondary Schools Debate Championship.
“This is because the power of literacy gives us the ability to read, write, speak and listen in a way that helps us communicate effectively – as adults; as children; as students; as debaters. Moreover, literacy gives us the capacity to apply these skills, while discerning and interpreting information, in relation to others and the world around us,” she said.
She noted that according to a survey conducted by UNESCO in 2015, an estimated 65 million Nigerians have insufficient literary skills.
She further stated that research has indicated that individuals with good literary skills are more likely to have better health, better jobs, better pay and better self-esteem than their counterparts, as they are able to take better advantage of opportunities.
“Inevitably,” she said, “poor literary skills have been positively correlated to a degree of poverty, poor health outcomes, low productivity, violence, social vulnerability and economic deprivation currently evidenced in Nigeria.”
