One in three Nigerians illiterate – Minister

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, on Wednesday in Kano said Nigeria has about 60 million illiterate youth and adults.

With an estimated population of 180 million Nigerians, this roughly translates to about one in three Nigerians.

Mr Adamu, who was represented by Prinzo James, Deputy Director, Basic and Secondary Education, Ministry of Education, said this at the 2018 International Literacy Day celebration.

He said out of this figure, females accounted for nearly 60 per cent of the population, with 11 million children out of school.

According to him, the increasing low level of literacy skills achieved by the millions of learners who completed some formal school education made the situation more complicated.

Mr Adamu said the present state of affairs called for urgent attention as the country strives to ensure the attainment of SDGs by 2030.