Katsina, Kano and Jigawa states account for 16 per cent of Nigeria’s 10.2 million out-of-school children, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said.
The agency stressed education and nutrition indicators in parts of the North-west remain among the worst in the country.
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The Chief of UNICEF’s Kano Field Office, Rahama Farah, disclosed this on Thursday in Kano at the public presentation of the Nigerian Child 2025 Report, held as part of activities marking this year’s World Children’s Day.
The event was organised by the Kano State Radio Corporation in collaboration with UNICEF and attended by journalists from Katsina, Kano and Jigawa.
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Mr Farah said data from the newly released report showed that Katsina, Kano and Jigawa account for 16 per cent of Nigeria’s 10.2 million out-of-school children.
According to him, Kano has nearly 900,000 out-of-school children, Jigawa more than 330,000, while Katsina has over 300,000.
“Katsina, Kano and Jigawa together account for 16 per cent of Nigeria’s 10.2 million out-of-school children. Katsina alone has over 300,000, Kano nearly 900,000 and Jigawa more than 330,000,” he said.
Mr Farah also referenced the 2024 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), which recorded alarming malnutrition levels in the three states.
Katsina has a stunting rate of 64.6 per cent, Jigawa 55.7 per cent, while Kano stands at 51.9 per cent, he said.
He noted that despite the scale of deprivation across rural communities, UNICEF’s programmes in the three states are helping to expand access to health, nutrition and education services.
Mr Farah said UNICEF’s collaboration with the Katsina State Government has led to increased funding for efforts to curb severe acute malnutrition.
He disclosed that Katsina has contributed over N1 billion to procure Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) under the Child Nutrition Match Fund (CNF).
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Similarly, Kano and Jigawa have each committed N1 billion for RUTF procurement to support ongoing treatment of malnourished children.
Mr Farah said UNICEF will continue to support state governments to address the “development challenges facing children” as highlighted in the Nigerian Child 2025 Report.
