By Gabriel Dike, Lagos
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, Minister of Education Mallam Adamu Adamu, the Commandant General of the Nigeria Security And Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) are some of the dignitaries expected to grace the 2022 edition of the annual education summit organised by the Education Writers’ Association of Nigeria (EWAN).
In a statement jointly signed by the EWAN chairman, Mojeed Alabi, and Taiwo Omilani, General Secretary, said the theme of the summit is “Towards Safe Schools in Nigeria.”
EWAN, a body of journalists across print, online and broadcast media organisations, said with an estimated 20 million out-of-school children, rising cases of violent attacks on schools by bandits, the sit-at-home order in a particular region which affects schooling on Mondays, and cases of bullying, rape, and drug abuses, holding a summit on school safety is key.
The summit according to the association is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, October 12th, 2022 at Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, in Lagos.
While the Lagos State Governor will declare the summit open, the Minister of Education will be the Special Guest of Honour.
Dr Ahmed Audi, the Commandant-General of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps ( NSCDC) will give the keynote address at the event while the host will be Mr Tokunbo Wahab, Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Education.
The panellists at the summit according to the statement are carefully selected based on their expertise and official responsibilities.
They include the Comptroller General of NIS, Mr Idris, whose agency is in charge of border security and migration management; the Director of Senior Secondary Education at the Federal Ministry of Education, Hajia Binta Abdulkadir; the newly appointed Vice-Chancellor-Designate at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Professor Folasade Ogunsola, and the Head of Nigeria’ National Office of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Mr Patrick Areghan, among others.
The statement reads in part: “This is what informed the theme of the summit and the stakeholders that have been carefully selected to play key roles.
“We assure Nigerians that this will not be another talk shop and that its outcome will end up on the shelves. We will pursue the implementation of whatever recommendations by concerned individuals and authorities.”
EWAN said other relevant stakeholders including private school proprietors, and NECO board chairman Dr Abubakar Siddique, among others, have pledged to grace the event.