Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, yesterday, said Nigeria's adult illiterates have increased from 25 million in 1997 to 35 million in 2013.
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Wike stated this at a ministerial briefing to commemorate the 2013 International Literacy Day themed "Literacy for 21st century."
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He said Nigeria had over 10.5 million children out of school which, according to him, is embarrassing to the nation.
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He said: "Indeed, the embarrassing literacy statistics on Nigeria, justifies the need for all stakeholders to redouble their efforts.
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"The current Education for All, EFA, Global Monitoring report ranks Nigeria as one of the countries with the highest level of illiteracy.
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"The report on Nigeria stated that the number of illiterate adults has increased by 10 million over the past two decades, to reach 35 million.
Then adult edication should be on the increase to rectify this once and for all. It is very bad for a country like Nigeria to experience something like this.