The National Association of Seadogs (NAS), popularly known as the Pyrates Confraternity (Vito Corsica Deck), has sounded the alarm over Nigeria’s worsening literacy crisis, warning that the country is on the brink of producing a “lost generation” if urgent steps are not taken.
Marking the 2025 International Literacy Day in Asaba with the theme “Promoting Literacy in the Digital Era: Bridging the Gap,” members of the Vito Corsica Deck, led by the Deck’s Second Mate Emeka Sepi Maduka, staged sensitization campaigns across the city and took their advocacy to the airwaves via Delta Radio DBS 97.9FM.
The live radio programme, anchored by Mr. Toju Edmo Tuoyo, featured public affairs analyst Comrade Austin Omilo and journalist/Public Relations practitioner Comrade Abel Johngold. Together, they dissected Nigeria’s education crisis, amplifying the commemorative statement of the NAS Cap’n, Dr. Joseph Oteri.
Dr. Oteri minced no words: Nigeria, despite being Africa’s largest economy, carries the shameful burden of hosting the world’s highest number of out-of-school children. According to UNICEF, 10.2 million Nigerian children of primary school age are not in school, with UNESCO placing the figure at 18.3 million when adolescents are included. In simple terms, one in every five out-of-school children worldwide is Nigerian.
“This is not just a statistic, it is a national emergency,” Oteri declared. “Every uneducated child is a ticking time bomb, a future lost to poverty, crime, drugs, exploitation, or trafficking. Nigeria cannot claim development while millions of its children are denied the basic right to education.”
He warned that in today’s fast-changing digital era, the failure to provide affordable internet, digital devices, and community ICT centres is widening the gap between the privileged few in urban centres and millions of disadvantaged children in rural communities. “If this continues, Nigeria will not only have the highest number of out-of-school children but also a digitally excluded generation — cut off from opportunities, empowerment, and progress,” he said.
The Pyrates Confraternity, which holds a United Nations consultative status, announced the launch of a month-long “Back to School Advocacy and Humanitarian Project” (September 8 – October 8, 2025). Through this initiative, NAS chapters in Nigeria and abroad will combine nationwide advocacy with direct interventions — offering scholarships, tuition support, and school materials to disadvantaged children.
In a hard-hitting call, NAS demanded immediate and concrete action from government and stakeholders, including:
- A minimum of 20% of annual budgets for education, strictly monitored;
- Enforcement of free, compulsory, and quality basic education, free of hidden costs;
- Massive investment in digital inclusion, ICT centres, and affordable internet access;
- Expansion of social protection measures like school feeding and community scholarships;
- Tough accountability measures to ensure education funds reach classrooms instead of being stolen.
“The cost of inaction is catastrophic,” Oteri warned. “Every Nigerian child left uneducated today will cost this nation its tomorrow. Literacy is not charity; it is survival. It is the passport to national security, economic stability, and social justice. Nigeria has no excuse left.”
As the world commemorates International Literacy Day, the Pyrates Confraternity insists that the time for rhetoric is over. The battle for Nigeria’s future, they said, will be won or lost in the classrooms.