The outbreak of COVID-19 a.k.a Coronavirus has, for lack of better words exposed the weakness and ineptitude in our educational system.

The ‘stay at home’ policy has clearly revealed the lack of foresight and creativity on the part of our leaders and most stakeholders in the educational sector to provide an alternative but accessible learning platform for the learners. Whereas, few State Governors are trying to improvise but it is important to state that ours is a country that has refused to invest in the educational sector, a country that prides itself in the traditional and conventional “face me and face you” methods of teaching and learning, a country that has deliberately as a matter of state policy decides to live in the past when others are digitalizing and revolutionizing their educational system.

Ours is a country that makes the right to education non justiciable. For readers who are non-lawyers, non-justiciable means, you have a right which cannot be enforced in a court of law! Does that make any sense? Exactly, it is a right that starts and ends on paper. Notwithstanding the plethora of international instruments signed and ratified by this country which provide otherwise, education in Nigeria is akin to a child having the right to be fed by his parents but cannot compel the parents to do so whenever they failed to provide food.

The pertinent questions to be addressed in this article are: what will be the fate of our children regarding their education as the stay at home policy continues? Is it possible and practicable to bring teaching and learning to the four walls of every household in Nigeria? If yes, do we have the resources to achieve a digitalized educational system in this country? Is it time to make the right to education justiciable?

Whereas, the right to education is not expressly provided for under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (the Constitution), however, inference can be drawn from the provision of the educational objectives classified under part 2 of the Constitution. Section 18 (1) provides that the government shall direct its policy towards ensuring that there are equal and adequate educational opportunities at all levels.

Subsection (2)(3)(a)(b) and (c) states that government shall promote science and technology, the government shall strive to eradicate illiteracy; and to this end, the government shall as and when practicable provide free compulsory and universal primary education, free university education and free adult literacy program. The provision is in pari materia with the Articles 13 and 14 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). The cited sections confer responsibilities on the government to ensure the realization of the objectives.

Although, the cited objectives are not justiciable as earlier explained, the outbreak of coronavirus which prompted the immediate closure of all schools from nursery to university level has created a new dimension which the constitution never contemplated.

This article is therefore to examine the general argument for and against the justiciability of educational objectives as a socio-economic right embedded in the said chapter 2 with specific focus on the closure of all educational institutions as a result of coronavirus.

To answer the first question, what will be the fate of our children regarding their education as the stay at home policy continues? Assessing the event of the past weeks, it appears there is a legal cum intellectual lacuna on how to address this challenge. Whereas, the law might not contemplate this emergency as it affect the educational sector, one would have thought there will be an emergency virtual conference among the stakeholders to recommend some practical ways of improvising pending when the lock down will be over or when it is safe to go back to the classroom. However, nothing of sort has taken place so far. What we have seen is few state governors attempting to use the state media in providing an improvised form of learning. While the effort is commendable, the reality on ground has created a barrier for the achievement of this laudable effort. The situation of electricity supply in Nigeria is so pathetic that most of the people would have been the beneficiaries of the program will not be able to join due to lack of power supply. Perhaps only few with the resources to afford a generator and fuel it will not be affected. Where does that leave an average Nigerian parent and the educational future of their children? It is either they have a private arrangement with someone to be teaching their children, convert themselves to teachers and do the teaching personally or allow the kids to be playing around while hoping and praying that the lock down should end.

Is it possible and practicable to bring teaching and learning to the four walls of every household in Nigeria? The answer to this question can be premised on two factors: constant power supply and effective internet accessibility. In Nigeria as at date, electricity and internet are not within the reach of an average Nigerian. Our government both at the state and federal level have woefully failed to adequately invest in the educational sector. Ours is still an education of black board and white chalk, instructors and learners without basic knowledge of computer operation and management, an education that is century behind the technological revolution. Relying on the World Bank statistic, the rate of poverty Nigeria has increased from 35.0% to 38.8% of the total population while 87% Nigeria’s poverty rate is in North. All these factors put together, it is not possible and likely to be possible for the next ten years except there is a complete paradigm on how the government prioritize and invest in the educational sector.

Do we have the resources to achieve a digitalized educational system in Nigeria? Of course, the country is blessed with human and natural resources which can be explored to achieve the required changes in the educational sector. However, there is no will to do that. This can be seen in the percent of the budget assigned to education, our attitude regarding research and innovations. Until we prioritize and invest more in science and technology, research and innovations in this country, the state of our educational sector will not only deteriorate but eventually collapsed.

Is it time to make the right to education justiciable? Why not? if the principles of constitutional amendment can be considered and followed to its best. It should be noted that a plethora of international instruments recognize the right to education as a piece that determines the future of a nation. This includes; African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the Universal Declaration of Human Right (Article 26), among others.

Although ICCPR did not extensively encompass the principle of the right to education like ICESCR, rather it states that the States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to have respect for the liberty of parents and, when applicable, legal guardians to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions. (Article 18 (4) ICCPR). However, Articles 13 & 14 of ICESCR critically analyze the right to education from childhood to adulthood and also make it mandatory for states to respect the provisions in the Covenant with a hit to observe free education.

Nigeria as a signatory to most of the human rights instruments is expected to ensure adequate and effective implementation of the conventions that guaranteed the right to education.

According to the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to education, in adopting the framework in Nigeria and in the fulfillment of the right to education, Nigeria can be assessed using the 4 A’s framework, which asserts that for education to be meaningful right, it must be available, accessible, acceptable and adaptable. The question therefore is; Is education available, accessible, acceptable and adaptable in Nigeria?

In conclusion, I would recommend that if there is anything to learn from the outbreak of coronavirus, it is that all stakeholders must prioritize education and allocate substantial part of our budget to research and innovation. We should invest more by developing the human resources of this country and most importantly, there is the urgent need of reviewing the non-justiciability of education in Nigeria. If we fail to address these issues as a matter of urgency, I fail to predict that we are sitting on a time bomb which shall be activated by the millions of illiterate and idle youths. And when this happens, everyone shall be affected. This is the time for government to see the need to invest more in the educational sector, create virtual teaching and learning, make electricity and internet available and affordable for the masses and make the right to education justiciable.

AKINWUMI JOHN AYOBAMI, ESQ., Associate at J. S. Okutepa, SAN & Co. [email protected], +2347013332890, Twitter: @Surpass_john, LinkedIn: Akinwumi John Ayobami Esq.