Nigeria’s development, with poverty, weak educational infrastructure and the lure of quick income pushing many children away from classrooms and into hazardous work.

The situation is particularly worrying in mining communities, where children are increasingly being drawn into artisanal and illegal mining activities at the expense of their education and future.

Governor Umar Bago of Niger State recently raised the alarm over the growing involvement of children in artisanal gold mining in the state, saying some boys were abandoning junior secondary schools because they had “tasted money” from mining.

According to the governor, a UNICEF report had warned that by 2027, some local government areas, including Shiroro, could face a situation where there would be hardly any male children in Junior Secondary School Two because of their involvement in artisanal mining.

Such a projection should concern every level of government.

Bago made the disclosure in the aftermath of the death of 37 suspected illegal miners who were reportedly in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Minna, Niger State.

The governor said some of those arrested during enforcement operations were teenagers between 14 and 18 years old, underscoring the extent to which young people have become involved in the mining economy.

Of particular concern was the governor’s assertion that the state government lacked sufficient authority to effectively stop the practice.

He reportedly said a governor was only a chief security officer “by mouth,” suggesting that governors had limited practical powers to issue and enforce directives against such activities.

Whether or not the constitutional limitations cited by the governor explain the situation, the reality is that children are leaving school for mining sites, and governments at all levels must respond.

The issue is not peculiar to Niger State or Nigeria.

A 2025 report by UNICEF and the International Labour Organisation estimated that 138 million children were engaged in child labour globally in 2024, including 54 million involved in hazardous work.

Mining and quarrying are among the most dangerous forms of child labour.

Globally, an estimated one to two million children between the ages of five and 17 are involved in small-scale mining and quarrying.

The ILO has also reported that children under 18 account for between 30 and 50 per cent of the workforce in some small-scale gold mines in Africa.

The problem affects several countries across sub-Saharan Africa, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Cameroon, Mali, Burkina Faso and Uganda.

Similar challenges have also been reported in parts of Asia, including Pakistan, India, Nepal, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Mongolia and Bangladesh.

The reasons are familiar: extreme poverty, the attraction of immediate income and inadequate access to quality education.

For poor families, mining may appear to offer children an opportunity to earn money quickly. But the immediate financial benefit comes at a significant cost to their education, health and long-term economic prospects.

Children working at mining sites can be exposed to dangerous machinery, hazardous substances and physically demanding conditions.

In some mining environments, exposure to mercury and other toxic substances can cause serious health problems, while dust and unsafe working conditions can increase the risk of respiratory and other illnesses.

More importantly, removing children from school creates a cycle of poverty that can persist into adulthood.

A child who leaves school to work in a mine may earn some money today but lose opportunities for skilled employment tomorrow.

In this sense, child labour in mining is not merely an issue of illegal employment; it is also an education, poverty and development crisis.
Nigeria therefore needs a coordinated response.

Government agencies responsible for education, mining, child protection and security must work together to prevent children from entering mining sites.

Mining operators and those who knowingly employ or exploit children should face prosecution where they violate existing laws.

Governments should also address the economic circumstances that push families towards mining.

Companies, civil society organisations and communities can play important roles in this regard. Programmes aimed at returning child miners to school, providing accelerated learning and supporting vulnerable families can help break the cycle.

International experience offers useful lessons.
Save the Children, for instance, has implemented programmes aimed at reintegrating child miners into schools and vocational training, while providing support to vulnerable families. The organisation has also used Catch-Up Clubs and accelerated learning initiatives to help children who have fallen behind academically.

The ILO’s SCREAM programme — Supporting Children’s Rights through Education, the Arts and the Media — also uses awareness campaigns and creative activities to highlight the dangers of child labour.

In September 2023, students in Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo reportedly used artistic works to draw attention to the message that children belong in schools, not mines.

The African Development Bank has also supported efforts in the Democratic Republic of Congo to improve the welfare of children involved in cobalt mining and facilitate their return to schools or vocational training programmes.

In 2020, the DRC established a commission to coordinate efforts to eliminate child labour in artisanal mining sites, working with international partners to address the problem.
Nigeria can adopt similar approaches.

Governors should not wait for the Federal Government before taking action in mining communities within their states.

They should work with local governments, traditional institutions, religious organisations, security agencies and civil society groups to identify children involved in mining and develop programmes to return them to school.

Investment in vocational education and alternative livelihoods is equally important.

Families dependent on mining for survival need viable alternatives, including opportunities in agriculture, skills acquisition and small businesses.

Building schools in mining communities is necessary, but it is not sufficient.

Governments should also consider targeted assistance for vulnerable families that cannot afford the direct and indirect costs associated with keeping children in school.

Traditional rulers and religious leaders should equally use their influence to educate parents and communities about the long-term consequences of taking children away from school.

The objective should be clear: no child should have to choose between education and survival.
Nigeria cannot afford to sacrifice an entire generation of children to the temporary economic benefits of artisanal mining.

Mining may provide livelihoods, but it must not become a pathway through which children are denied education and exposed to hazardous work.

The responsibility rests with every stakeholder — governments, mining operators, communities, parents, traditional and religious leaders, civil society organisations and development partners.

Mining must not erase education.

Nigerian universities must strengthen their global academic reputation, research output and international collaborations to improve the country’s performance in global university rankings, Chairman of the Nigerian Tertiary Education Ranking Advisory Committee (NiTERAC), Prof. Peter Okebukola, has said.

Okebukola, a former Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, made the submission while assessing Nigeria’s performance in the 2027 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings released on Wednesday.

The 2027 ranking assessed 2,297 universities across 118 countries and territories, with Nigeria recording 29 ranked universities, an increase from 24 institutions in the 2026 edition.

Nigeria also recorded the highest number of ranked universities in sub-Saharan Africa, which had 69 institutions featured in the latest edition.

According to Okebukola, the increase in the number of Nigerian universities in the global ranking should be accompanied by greater attention to areas where the country continues to perform below its potential.

He identified global academic reputation as the biggest opportunity for improving Nigeria’s standing, noting that reputation-related measures account for 33 per cent of the overall ranking score.

Okebukola said Nigerian universities could improve their international academic standing by participating more actively in international conferences, undertaking joint research projects, attracting visiting professors and strengthening relationships with academics and alumni in the diaspora.

He also called for improved research funding and productivity, more accurate institutional data submission, increased doctoral output, deeper international collaboration and mobility, as well as stronger engagement with industry and greater patenting activity.

His assessment showed that Research Quality was Nigeria’s strongest ranking pillar, with a mean score of 43.3. Research Environment and Teaching recorded mean scores of 13.9 and 20.6 respectively.

Covenant, UI, UNILAG lead Nigerian universities
The latest THE ranking placed Covenant University, the University of Ibadan and the University of Lagos jointly in Nigeria’s highest position, within the 801–1000 global band.
Covenant University improved from the 1001–1200 band in the 2026 edition, while the University of Ibadan and the University of Lagos retained their positions.

Four other Nigerian universities — Ahmadu Bello University, Bayero University, Landmark University and the University of Ilorin — were placed in the 1001–1200 band.

The development brought the number of Nigerian universities in the global top 1,200 to seven.

Okebukola noted that federal universities continued to dominate Nigeria’s institutions in the upper bands, with five of the seven universities in the top 1,200 being federal institutions.

They are the University of Ibadan, University of Lagos, University of Ilorin, Ahmadu Bello University and Bayero University.

He said the number of federal universities in the top 1,200 increased from three in 2026 to five in 2027, while their share of Nigeria’s institutions in the band rose from 60 per cent to 71.4 per cent.

Overall, 19 federal universities, seven state universities and three private universities were ranked.

32 universities listed as Reporters
Beyond the 29 institutions that made the ranked table, 32 Nigerian universities were listed as “Reporters” after submitting data but failing to meet the requirements for inclusion in the ranking.

Sixteen of the Reporter institutions are private universities, 12 are state-owned and four are federal universities.

Okebukola said the latest results should be treated as a diagnostic tool for the Nigerian higher education system and provide empirical evidence for the work of NiTERAC.

The THE World University Rankings assess research-intensive universities based on their core missions, with indicators covering areas such as teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

Nigeria to introduce national tertiary institutions ranking
Against the backdrop of the latest global ranking, Okebukola disclosed that NiTERAC had commenced work on a national ranking of Nigerian universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.

He said the exercise followed a directive from the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, and is expected to be completed before December 15, 2026.

According to him, the national ranking is designed to stimulate healthy competition among tertiary institutions while helping Nigeria improve its performance in international rankings.

He said the national exercise would complement global rankings and enable institutions to identify gaps in areas such as research environment, doctoral output and academic reputation.

The Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in Akwa Ibom State, Engr. Emem Coffie, has urged Nigerian youths to prioritise education and skills acquisition rather than pursue quick success.

Coffie made the call while speaking with journalists on Wednesday, stressing that education remains an important foundation for professional competence, career development and national economic growth.

He expressed concern over the growing perception among some young people that education is a waste of time, warning that such a mindset could undermine youth development and limit the country’s ability to produce skilled professionals.

According to him, academic knowledge provides the foundation upon which young people can build specialised careers, particularly in technical and scientific fields.

The civil engineer said education had played a significant role in the development of advanced economies, noting that the success of some individuals without university degrees should not be used to discredit formal education.

He explained that technical professions require both theoretical knowledge and practical experience.

“The truth is that engineering is probably 90 percent from scientific theory and 10 percent empirical,” he said.

Coffie gave robotics engineering as an example, saying aspiring professionals would need basic knowledge of subjects such as physics, chemistry and mathematics before progressing into areas including mechanical, electrical and electronic engineering.

He said he had sponsored hundreds of students in Akwa Ibom State, Enugu and Abuja as part of his efforts to support young people and promote access to education.

The PDP candidate, however, stressed that university education should not be regarded as the only route to economic success.

He called for greater government support for vocational education, apprenticeships, entrepreneurship and other forms of skills development.

“I want to see a country where the youths are very specific in their achievements in where they are going,” he said.

“Everybody doesn’t need to go to university, that’s why we get everybody wrong, but whatever level, whatever trade you should apply, the government should support you, train you, and make you relevant.”

Industrialisation needed to create jobs
Coffie also called for greater investment in industrialisation in Akwa Ibom, arguing that education and skills development must be linked to available economic opportunities.

He identified oil and gas, refineries, gas processing facilities and steel plants as sectors capable of creating employment opportunities for young people in the state.

He proposed apprenticeship programmes through which youths could receive practical training for jobs in emerging industries, while also receiving financial support during their training.

“You begin to prepare them, empower them to program the way they will learn such skills, and within that period pay them, even if they are doing an apprenticeship scheme, pay them during that period so that you can encourage them to participate in such,” Coffie said.

He equally advocated increased support for small and medium-scale enterprises through affordable financing to enable traders and entrepreneurs to expand their businesses and create additional jobs.

The governorship candidate proposed the establishment of cottage industries across the 31 local government areas of Akwa Ibom to create employment, utilise local raw materials and increase household incomes.

He cited palm oil processing and the production of briquettes from palm kernel waste as examples of small-scale industrial activities that could be developed across the state.

Coffie seeks return to Akwa Ibom development master plan
Coffie also called for a return to what he described as Akwa Ibom’s original development master plan, urging successive administrations to sustain projects initiated by previous governments rather than abandon them.

He listed the deep seaport, science park, airport, road network and power plants among projects he said were associated with the state’s development plans.

The engineer, who has about 35 years of professional experience, argued that road construction alone could not solve poverty unless accompanied by industrial and commercial activities capable of providing sustainable employment and incomes.

He said his proposed development agenda, tagged “A New Drive Back to the Genesis,” would focus on human capital development, industrialisation, skills acquisition and support for small businesses.

“When I say Genesis, let’s go back to that master plan and start to execute it all over again,” he said.

“Road construction is interesting but road construction does not put food on the table of people.”