Obaseki Advocates Education Reform at ICESCO Summit

At the ICESCO summit held in London, Godwin Obaseki, the former governor of Edo State, delivered a keynote address focusing on the urgent need for educational reforms across member states. He presented the EDOBEST initiative, which has gained recognition as a successful model for improving foundational learning outcomes in Africa.

The summit gathered ministers, policymakers, and education experts to discuss strategies for overcoming learning poverty, which affects nearly half of the world's children, including an estimated 44 million in Nigeria and Pakistan alone. Obaseki argued that effective education reform requires strong leadership and public trust, emphasizing that educational priorities should be visible and not merely a secondary agenda.

He stressed the importance of building credible financial mechanisms and strong institutions to ensure the sustainability of educational reforms, which must outlive individual administrations to achieve meaningful results.