The United States, U.S, on Thursday restated its commitment to fighting side-by-side with Nigeria in the war against the Islamist Boko Haram sect.
The country’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. James Entwistle, disclosed this at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, on the Safe Schools Initiative, SSI, in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.
His words: “We have said this directly to Mr. President and to others that the United States will stand with Nigeria in the fight against terror and we stand ready to help in every possible way. The terrorists try to keep children out of school. This is unacceptable and we won’t stand by and let that happen. We can’t give up.”
The envoy who noted that Washington had been involved in the education of children in Nigeria for a very long time and took it very seriously as a means of developing Nigeria, asserted that, “Nigerian children who have been affected by the insurgency do not also need to see their hopes for education sacrificed.”
Speaking earlier, Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration had built strong partnerships with other nations, donor agencies, and the private sector since the SSI was launched.
She maintained that asides the $10 million contribution of the Federal Government to the SSI Trust Fund domiciled at the Central Bank of Nigeria, Germany and Norway had sent in 2 million Euro and $1.5 million, respectively.
The Minister added that the United Kingdom offered a 1 million pound technical assistance, while the African Development Bank would soon send in $1 million.
Her words, “We have received donations of EUR2 million from Germany, and will shortly receive a grant of $1 million from the African Development Bank into the fund. Other donors include Norway – $1.5 million (given through UNICEF), the UK – £1 million in technical assistance, and $10 million pledged by a Coalition of Nigerian Business Leaders.”
Dr. Okonjo-Iweala assured the international community of the commitment of the present government to return all displaced children to school and even provide scholarships to those qualified to study in foreign universities.
According to her, “With the support of UNICEF, we are ramping up efforts to provide education to children in IDP camps and host communities. A total of 28,679 children have been enrolled in basic education through the double shift schooling system which is operational in all 3 states, and of these 1,692 have been enrolled into junior secondary school. Through UNICEF, we have also procured 35,000 school bags with learning materials, and 400 “school in a box” to support schooling of the IDP learners.
“We are partnering with International NGOs to offer scholarships to some of the victims of the insurgency to study at universities abroad,” she noted.