ICPC, NCAOOSE Forge Anti-Corruption Alliance to Tackle Out-of-School Crisis

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has reaffirmed its commitment to formalising a strategic partnership with the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education (NCAOOSE) to strengthen transparency, prevent corruption, and protect vulnerable children across Nigeria.

ICPC Chairman, Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu, SAN, gave the assurance while receiving the Executive Secretary of NCAOOSE, Dr. Mohammed Sani Idris, and his delegation during a courtesy visit to the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Saturday.

Dr. Aliyu described the out-of-school children crisis as a national emergency tied directly to Nigeria’s future leadership and development. He emphasised the need to keep children under responsible parental care while ensuring access to quality education, warning that young persons must not be burdened with responsibilities beyond their years.

“The issues raised are fundamental to the preservation of our nation’s future leadership,” he said, stressing that safeguarding children requires coordinated institutional action.

To deepen collaboration, the ICPC Chairman proposed the swift finalisation of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between both agencies. He explained that the agreement would create a structured framework for deploying anti-corruption mechanisms such as Corruption Risk Assessments to prevent financial leakages and strengthen accountability within NCAOOSE’s programmes.

He also pledged to leverage the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria to drive behavioural change and integrity capacity within the education intervention system. He directed key departments of the Commission to begin immediate engagement with their NCAOOSE counterparts to identify areas of synergy.

Earlier, Dr. Idris highlighted the scale of the crisis, citing UNICEF figures that put Nigeria’s out-of-school population at over 18.3 million. He warned that Almajiri and other vulnerable children face heightened risks, including abuse, neglect and exploitation.

He identified corruption, weak advocacy, and inadequate resource allocation as major barriers to progress, stressing that partnership with ICPC is crucial to addressing systemic challenges.

Despite operating about 200 learning centres and identifying more than 700,000 out-of-school children for intervention, Dr. Idris disclosed that NCAOOSE is severely constrained by inadequate funding, poor infrastructure and limited operational logistics.

He appealed to the ICPC Chairman to use his office to advocate for improved budgetary support for the Commission to enable it scale up interventions nationwide.

Both agencies concluded the meeting with a commitment to sustained collaboration aimed at promoting transparency, strengthening education access, and protecting Nigeria’s most vulnerable children.