President Goodluck Jonathan and the former British Prime Minister, Mr. Gordon Brown, who presently serves as the United Nations Special Envoy on Global Education, exchanged commitments to support education of young Nigerians. They met in Abuja on Monday, September 9, according to a release signed by the Special Adviser to the President Reuben Abati.

President Jonathan reconfirmed the commitment of his administration to the effective implementation of policies and measures that aim to ensure that young people in Nigeria receive qualitative education that can prepare them to integrate into the labour market. Jonathan also said that in addition to providing the $250 Million required to match the amount raised by international donors, the Federal Government will provide the necessary support to state governments to ensure that they have access to the new funds and use them appropriately.
"Thank you for helping us in this area. Education is critical to making our youth more employable. The Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Finance and the Minister of Education will work with the states to make sure that the programme succeeds," Jonathan told Brown.
Brown, in turn, said he had a fruitful meeting with Vice President Namadi Sambo, the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Finance, Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufa'i and a range of other officials on international assistance to enhance access to educational opportunities for young Nigerias. He added that the UN and international donors were committed to working with the federal and state governments to expand teacher training programmes, improve girl-child education, and boost the use of the tools of modern technology.
This discussion took place against a backdrop of the ongoing strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). The Union has embarked on industrial action on July 1 after accusing the FG of reneging on a 2009 agreement with the Union.
However, it has not been reported wether the politicians discussed the ASUU strike at the meeting.
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