Peter Obi: Quranic Proficiency Suggests Northern Kids Are Intelligent, Can Learn Skills

Peter Obi, Labour Party’s presidential candidate has said he would exploit the quranic proficiency of northern Nigerian schoolchildren to give them a career pathway built on skills.

At a televised dialogue underway on Arise TV, Mr Obi said northern children’s ability to master the Islamic holy book indicated they would be able to master skills to hike out of poverty.

“If they can learn Quran, it means they are intelligent,” Mr Obi, a former governor of Anambra, said as part of a broad response on tackling education. “I will meet them where they are learning Quran” and let them know they can have skills.

“What we need to do, other than increased investment in education, is also to have increased inspection across state and local government,” Mr Obi said.

According to UNICEF estimates, the northern region of Nigeria has long lagged behind the rest of the nation in terms of education, making up a sizable portion of the country’s uninstructed youth.

Mr. Obi has frequently advocated for the importance of education in Nigeria as a means of guiding the nation out of its pervasive misery and poverty.

He promised to earmark 10% of federal budgetary provisions for education if elected in the upcoming presidential election, a feat never before accomplished in the nation’s 62 years of self-government.