Stakeholders in Nigeria’s banking, philanthropy, government, corporate and civil society sectors have called for stronger collaboration to address the country’s growing out-of-school children crisis, warning that failure to act could undermine national development, economic growth and security.
The call was made at the 4th Education Summit 2026, organised by the Ibironke Adeagbo Foundation in Lagos, where participants deliberated on practical strategies for improving access to education and reducing the number of children excluded from schooling.
Nigeria currently faces the highest out-of-school children crisis in the world, with estimates ranging from 14.8 million to over 18.3 million children absent at the primary and junior secondary levels.
Speaking virtually at the summit held at Four Points by Sheraton, Oniru, Lagos, the founder of the foundation, Mrs Ibironke Adeagbo, described efforts to tackle the education crisis as a matter of collective responsibility and enlightened self-interest.
According to her, sustainable progress can only be achieved through deliberate partnerships involving government institutions, development agencies, private sector organisations and civil society groups.
“We need collective action to ensure that every Nigerian child has access to quality education. Addressing the out-of-school children challenge is not just a social responsibility but an enlightened self-interest for all Nigerians,” she said.
The summit centred on the foundation’s newly launched white paper, “The Danger of the Knowledge Gap,” which examines the scale and implications of Nigeria’s education crisis.
The document highlights concerns that millions of Nigerian children remain outside the formal education system, a development experts say threatens the country’s economic competitiveness, social cohesion and democratic development.
Delivering the keynote address, human rights lawyer and patron of the foundation, Femi Falana (SAN), urged citizens and advocacy groups to utilise the Freedom of Information Act to demand accountability in education funding and policy implementation.
“Advocacy is not optional,” Falana said, stressing that greater public scrutiny of education budgets, expenditure and outcomes would help drive reforms and improve learning opportunities for vulnerable children.
He noted that transparency in the management of education resources remains critical to reversing poor school enrolment and learning outcomes across the country.
Representatives of SOS Children’s Villages, the Aliko Dangote Foundation, the ACT Foundation and Wellington College Lagos, among others, attended the summit.
Participants agreed that fragmented interventions and isolated projects had produced limited results and called for coordinated, data-driven and community-based approaches capable of delivering measurable impact.
The Executive Director of IA-Foundation, Mrs Olufunke Sotinwa, said the scale of the challenge requires strategic partnerships that combine resources, expertise and accountability mechanisms.
“No single institution can solve this crisis alone. We see ourselves as the credible bridge this ecosystem has been missing – between government and community, between ambition and accountability,” she said.
Sotinwa disclosed that the summit would mark the beginning of a year-long engagement process aimed at translating discussions into concrete and adequately funded initiatives capable of producing measurable outcomes in communities across Nigeria.
She expressed confidence that sustained cooperation among stakeholders would help reduce the number of out-of-school children and strengthen the country’s education system for future generations.
Nigeria continues to grapple with one of the world’s largest populations of out-of-school children.
Education advocates have repeatedly warned that millions of children, particularly in rural and conflict-affected communities, remain excluded from formal education due to poverty, insecurity, inadequate infrastructure, child labour and socio-cultural barriers.
Experts say the challenge poses significant risks to national development, as limited access to education contributes to unemployment, poverty, social inequality and insecurity.
Although the Federal Government and development partners have launched several interventions in recent years to boost school enrolment and improve learning outcomes, stakeholders at the summit maintained that stronger collaboration and sustained investment remain essential to achieving lasting results.
