Global education stakeholders under the auspices of the NGEducators International Model United Nations, NGIMUN, an initiative of the International Human Rights Commission, IHRC, have recommended Enugu State’s education development model to other Nigerian subnational governments and countries as a veritable framework to eradicate poverty, contain insecurity, and improve living standard.
The recommendation was made on Wednesday at the opening of the maiden NGIMUN conference, themed “The Development of Education in Developing Countries” and holding in Enugu, South Eas Nigeria, citing the innovative approaches and huge investments by current government to leapfrog education in the state.
Speaking at the event, which drew participants from 14 nations as well as several UN bodies, the Coordinator of NGMUN and Director and Ambassador, African Regional Headquarters of IHRC, Dr. Tivlumun Ahure, said Enugu was consciously chosen to host the maiden conference due to its leading role in education development.
“Enugu State has done unbelievable things with education. Our central theme has to do with the development of education in developing countries, and that is why we are in Enugu.
“The evaluation and assessment exercise that was carried out in every region of the world regarded as the developing world, across Central America, Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, especially Oceania, Asia and so on, all the regions of the world known as the Third World countries, our concern is about the poor countries and the developing countries.
“What decided the choice of Enugu State is that it is confirmed and authenticated in the global south, it is Enugu State that is pioneering and leading in educational development.
“We have toured Enugu for the period of six whole months, beginning from September, 2023, and that same tour held in several regions of the world in order to determine the exact destination to hold this Conference, "The Development of Education in the Developing Countries.
“The decision is to celebrate that particular area that is doing well in the developing countries on the issue of developing education and then we narrowed down to Cameroon first, and for very clear indices, we came down to Nigeria. The report was delivered in Nairobi, Kenya that we should come down to Nigeria, Enugu State in particular, and host this event,” he stated.
Speaking, the Chief Host and governor of Enugu State, said the state took a radical approach to education development because education remained the strongest weapon with which to fight poverty, and would continue to do so in terms of policies and funding for the same reason.
“My first reaction is that I'm humbled. We didn't even know that our modest efforts in our education sector were already gaining such international attention and acclaim.
“We are indeed honoured and humbled. The generous statements and words being made by the diplomats and the UN Human Rights Commission and those who are focusing on education in developing countries.
“As we always said, we are obsessed with education. We know that education is the surest weapon and the strongest way to fight poverty. If we are going to give a deadly blow to poverty, we must get our young people equipped with the right skill set to deal with tomorrow's workplace. And that's what the Green Smart School initiative is all about.
“But we are not just advocating for zero tolerance for out of school children, but we are also saying that these children deserve to have access to quality education. And that quality learning starts from early childhood, age three. This is essentially what we are doing, making sure they are exposed to future skills. To artificial intelligence, to robotics, to augmented realities, to mechatronics. All these skills we need to be able to compete favourably with their peers across the globe. That's essentially what we are imbuing them with,” Governor Mbah said.
