The Adebayo-Bugaje Presidential Campaign has declared a total state of emergency on the perennial crisis of basic education in Nigeria.
In a powerful, data-backed policy address issued on Thursday by Comrade Mark Adebayo, the Chief Media and Communications Adviser to the campaign, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo, vowed that his administration will aggressively dismantle the systemic barriers keeping millions of Nigerian youth away from classrooms, boldly promising to reduce the number of out-of-school children to zero across the federation.
The statement criticises the slow progress documented in the UNESCO 2026 Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, which notes that Nigeria has stagnated in increasing school attendance rates and remains severely off-track to meeting its international educational benchmarks.
The Adebayo-Bugaje Campaign drew urgent attention to current, verifiable data underscoring the deep educational deficit under successive administrations.
”Emerging 2026 data from international tracking agencies indicates that Nigeria holds an estimated 18.3 million out-of-school children – the highest absolute figure of any single nation globally.
”This staggering backlog breaks down into roughly 10.2 million children of primary school age and 8.1 million of junior secondary school age.
”This epidemic has turned Nigeria into the global epicenter of educationally disadvantaged children because for their today, the current corps of rulers are destroying the tomorrow of our children.”
”Approximately 66% of these out-of-school children are concentrated within Nigeria’s North-West and North-East geopolitical zones. In the North-West, over half of the children are completely excluded from basic education frameworks.”
”Security challenges and entrenched economic conditions have disproportionately impacted young girls. Female primary school attendance sits at just 47.7% in the North-East and 47.3% in the North-West, meaning over half of the school-aged girls in these regions are systematically left behind.”
”Conflict and insecurity have dealt a devastating blow to school networks, particularly in the North-East, where “hundreds of schools remain shuttered, alongside thousands of damaged or entirely destroyed classrooms.”
”We cannot build a modern economy, achieve national security, or proudly step into the comity of nations when millions of our citizens are structurally condemned to illiteracy from childhood,” Prince Adewole Adebayo stated.
”The current administration has failed to treat basic education as a fundamental human right. Under the Adebayo-Bugaje four-year transformation blueprint, we will approach this crisis not with empty political rhetoric, but with radical infrastructure investments and targeted public welfare policies.”
Adebayo outlined the actionable pillars of the candidate’s education emergency policy saying
“My administration will immediately redirect trillions of naira currently wasted on lavish political lifestyles into funding public primary and secondary education. Every child will have access to completely free, safe, and heavily subsidised modern basic schooling.”
The campaign promises strict, institutionalized enforcement of compulsory basic education laws. “Working closely with sub-national governments, the federal administration will establish community tracking systems to ensure no child is left on the streets during school hours.”
”Realising that insecurity and abductions have forced countless schools to close, the Adebayo-Bugaje administration will launch a comprehensive security architecture specifically dedicated to protecting learning environments in high-risk zones, rebuilding the thousands of classrooms lost to conflict.”
”The SDP administration will work respectfully with local communities to modernise traditional education systems by introducing core literacy, numeracy, and vocational training components, giving every child a bridge to the formal economy.”
”The numbers we see in 2026 are not just statistics; they represent a stolen future for our youth. The Adebayo-Bugaje ticket – under the manifesto Farewell to Poverty and Insecurity – presents the only credible, honest path toward reclaiming Nigeria’s educational soul.
”We urge Nigerians to remain vigilant, defend their democratic mandates, and vote for a comprehensive transformation that starts by giving our children the classrooms they deserve.”
Adebayo Vows to End Out-of-School Crisis, Targets Zero Children Out of School
