SERAP urges govt to implement verdict on right to education

A HUMAN rights group, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), has urged the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration to ensure full compliance with the judgment by the ECOWAS Court of Justice on the right of Nigerian children to free, quality and compulsory basic education.This, the group said, would serve as the most effective way to address the root causes of the post-election violence and killings.The group, in a letter to the President, a copy of which was made available to The Guardian yesterday, said: By fully and effectively implementing the ECOWAS court judgment, your government will be demonstrating its commitment to end long standing election-related violence once and for all.In the letter dated April 23, 2011 and signed by the solicitor to SERAP, Femi Falana, the group said governments compliance with the judgment will also send a strong message that it is ready and willing to make substantial investments into the countrys most valuable resources: Children.The group further urged the President to publicly acknowledge and welcome the judgment on right to education and also express his governments commitment to complying fully and effectively with the judgment as well as urgently institute a mechanism to review legal and constitutional remedies for the right to education and bring them into line with the ECOWAS Court judgment.It also want the president to encourage states that have not yet done so to urgently enact Child Rights Laws similar to the Child Rights Act enacted into law in 2003 and make available funds that can be used to replace stolen education funds and cater for the children that have been left behind as a result of the corruption in the UBEC.
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