Education Rights Campaign (ERC) welcomes the recent judgment of the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice sitting in Abuja on the right of every Nigerian child to free and compulsory education as an historic validation of the struggle of Nigerian students for decades now that Nigerian government has been breaching its social contract with the Nigerian people especially in the area of the provision of free, functional and accessible education to all Nigerians as enshrined in the educational objectives under Section II of the amended 1999 Constitution of Nigeria.
In an historic judgment yesterday on a suit instituted by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) against the Federal Government and UBEC, alleging the violation of the right to quality education, the right to dignity, the right of peoples to their wealth and natural resources and to economic and social development guaranteed by Articles 1, 2, 17, 21 and 22 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Abuja ordered the Nigerian government to provide as of right, free and compulsory education to every Nigerian child.
By this judgment, the court granted the following reliefs asked by SERAP: A declaration that every Nigerian child is entitled to free and compulsory education by virtue of Article 17 of the African Child's Rights Act, Section 15 of the Child's Rights Act 2003 and Section 2 of the Compulsory Free and Universal Basic Education Act, 2004 and an order directing the defendant to make adequate provisions for the compulsory and free education of every child forthwith. The Court also ruled that the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, failed to discharge its responsibility pursuant to its foundational instrument to monitor how states are spending and using states' natural wealth and resources in order to ensure that the resources are spent for the purposes for which they are meant. The court also said the ICPC report on the diversion of the sum of N3.5 billion from the UBE fund by certain public officers in 10 states of the Federation of Nigeria constitutes only a prima facie evidence of theft of the public funds until the officials involved are successfully prosecuted before national courts.
Government At All Level Must Immediately Comply with The ECOWAS Court Judgment On Education (http://www.saharareporters.com/press-release/government-all-level-must-immediately-comply-ecowas-court-judgment-education)