Nigerian Lawyers Sue Nigerian Authorities Over Out-of-School Children Crisis

A group of prominent lawyers, including human rights lawyer Femi Falana, has filed a lawsuit against several key figures in the Nigerian government over the state of education for Nigerian children. The defendants in the case include the Attorney General of the Federation, the Minister of Education, the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), the attorneys general of the 36 states of the federation, and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The lawsuit, filed at the Federal High Court in Lagos, comes in response to a recent report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) which revealed that Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world, with an estimated 20.2 million children currently out of school.

In the affidavit submitted to the court, Falana and his fellow lawyers have demanded that the defendants take immediate action to address this issue. They are seeking an order directing the relevant authorities to release the counterpart funds needed to access the matching grant of N68 billion in the Account of the Universal Basic Education Fund. Additionally, they are requesting that the defendants be required to report their compliance with this order within 30 days of the court’s decision.

Furthermore, Falana has urged the court to issue an order compelling the respondents to consistently release the counterpart funds to access the matching grant in the account of the Universal Basic Education Fund in a timely manner.

The lawyers are also seeking a declaration from the court affirming that, according to Section 2(1) of the Compulsory, Free Universal Basic Education Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, the defendants are legally obligated to provide free, compulsory, and universal basic education for every Nigerian child of primary and junior secondary school age.

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