By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Various forms of security concern in Nigeria have jeopardised the quest to reduce the burgeoning rate of out-of-school children in the West African country, which according to a report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) stands at over 30 million.
From the activities of separatist movement in the South East where children are not allowed to go to school on Mondays or take part in external examinations including WAEC, to the bigger one, the mass abduction of students, especially girls from their schools and hostels in the northern region by insurgency groups, the problem is huge. These have all contributed in undermining moves to meet the Sustainable Development Goal number 4 which borders on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for all.
On Thursday, there was yet another nationwide outrage when about 280 pupils and teachers of Government Secondary School and LEA primary school at Kuriga, located in Chikun local government area of Kaduna State were abducted by terrorists.
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The Heritage Times HT gathered that the insurgents had invaded the schools located at the same environment, shot sporadically to scare their victims before taking them away to an unknown destination.
It took place just 24 hours after about 200 internally displaced women in Ngala, the headquarters of Gambarou Ngala in Borno Borno State were kidnapped while fetching firewood in the bush, a security sourced had stated.
Both incidences also happened the same week when the global community celebrated the International Women’s Day (IWD), an annual event on March 8 which celebrates the cultural, political, social, and economic achievements made by women. It also serves as an opportunity to inspire efforts to end gender biases and discrimination and achieve gender equality.
The Kuriga school abduction comes barely three years after a similar operation by insurgents in the North West state where over 150 students were whisked away to the forest and re-united with their families months later after several millions of Naira were believed to have been paid in order to secure their release.
Boko Haram an ISWAP-affiliated terror organisation that has operated in Nigeria’s North East and parts of the North West zone since 2009, holding swathe of land and displacing communities has its ideology anchored on campaign against “western education.”
It has torched several schools and destroyed facilities promoting the advancement of education in the region. It has blown up fences of higher institutions, kidnapped, maimed and violated persons, particularly women. The mass abduction of students is also believed to be part of this campaign, in order to dissuade them from seeking education, a development that has exacerbated the already mind-boggling rate of out-of-school children.
UNICEF in breaking down its figure says one in three children in Nigeria is out of school, totalling 10.2 million at the primary level and 8.1 million at the junior secondary school (JSS) level.
The UN education body also indicated that 12.4 million children have never attended school, and 5.9 million left school prematurely, contributing to Nigeria’s out-of-school population, which accounts for 15% of the global total.
“It’s A Time Bomb” — Education Minister
The Minister of State for Education, Yusuf Sununu while speaking at a recently hosted Bauchi State Education Summit stated that there is an urgent need for concerted efforts to address the growing number of out-of-school children in Northern Nigeria, describing it as “time-bomb.”
The Minister while calling for urgent action noted that the troubling trend is “unacceptable” and “disheartening.”
“The rising figure of out-of-school children in Nigeria and most particularly in the northern part of Nigeria is not only unacceptable but disheartening.
“There must be concerted efforts to address and reverse the trend of this time-bomb phenomenon. At the federal level, the newly established National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children is set to commence activities,” he said.
He added, “The Commission will address issues and develop mechanisms for the integration of Tsanga/Madarasa schools to be integrated into basic education.”
While acknowledging the sector’s enormous challenges, Sununu stressed the need for action by all stakeholders to combat the issues of poor teacher quality, inadequate learning environments, gender inequality, and discrimination.
“It is pertinent to mention at this juncture that the challenges in the education sector are enormous, but we are all equal to the task.
“Collective efforts by all stakeholders will defeat the challenges of Out-of-School Children syndrome; poor teacher quality, unconducive teaching, and learning environment; gender inequality and discrimination; poor data generation, utilization and management issues, inadequate infrastructure in our schools and the inclusion of Nigeria on the list of world learning poverty countries.”
Research on Improving Systems Of Education (RISE) revealed that despite compulsory free basic education, around 10.5 million children aged 5 to 14 years are out of school in Nigeria.
It added that approximately 50 per cent of these children reside in the northern region, heavily impacted by the Boko Haram insurgency.
It’s Attack on Our Future — Tinubu
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu has vowed that no effort will be spared to arrest and prosecute perpetrators of violent crimes all over the country. He also reiterated his willingness to ensure a safe and secure environment of study in the schools across Nigeria, describing any attack on school children as a direct attack on the country’s future.
The President in a statement through the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, stated that the abductions are utterly unacceptable and went against all fundamental values of humanity.
According to the Minister, “Government stands resolutely against any form of violence or coercion targeted at innocent civilians, especially the most vulnerable among us.
“Our children deserve to seek education in conditions devoid of harm or threat of harm, and any threat to their security is a direct attack on the future of our country.
“While extending heartfelt sympathies to families and communities affected by these distressing events, President Bola Tinubu has directed security agencies to swiftly ensure the safe return of all abducted persons and the arrest of perpetrators.
“Government will spare no effort in the pursuit of justice for the victims and in its determination to hold perpetrators of such heinous acts accountable to the full extent of the law.’’
The Minister urged the public to remain calm but vigilant and to provide relevant information that might assist security agencies to free the victims and arrest the assailants.
Tinubu Must Sign State Police Into Law — Analyst
An Abuja-based current affairs analyst and ICT expert, Fatai Abiodun told The Heritage Times HT that the mass abduction of students may not abate anytime soon unless measures are put in place to fast-track the passage of the Bill seeking the establishment of State Police currently before the National Assembly. At the House of Representatives, the Bill has already passed second reading.
Sponsored by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Benjamin Kalu and 14 others, the Bill proposes to transfer the term “police” in the 1999 constitution from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent legislative list, empowering the 36 states of the Federation with the constitutional backing to address issues unique to their localities.
Abiodun is of the opinion that this would largely address the security concerns peculiar to various states of the Federation, urging the President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu to sign the Bill into law if passed by the National Assembly.
“Under normal circumstance, the state governors should give orders to the Commissioner of Police in their states, but the Constitution does not permit him to do that. This embarrassment of kidnapping of school children, since April 2014 when Chibok girls were taken away till date, it must stop.
“It can only stop if we have a Governor who is fully the Chief Security Officer of his State. That is why President Tinubu must sign into law the Bill for state police as soon as it is passed. The governors will then have opportunity to make use of their security vote which they receive monthly from the federal government.
“It is the best option for the President at this time. Bandits kidnapped school children in Kaduna and the next day, they kidnapped in Sokoto, so if tomorrow it happens in Ekiti or elsewhere, how would the President and the Inspector General of Police resident in Abuja cope with fighting insecurity in the federating units that are miles away?” he queried.
He equally wondered why thousands of policemen are mobilized during electioneering periods but cannot be deployed in times of serious security challenges.
In 2014, the abduction of 276 students from Government Girls’ Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State stirred a nationwide uproar when a group, Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG) took to the streets, demanding the release of the girls between the ages of 16 to 18.
Till date, 98 of the girls are still being held by Boko Haram and majority of those rescued refused going back to school over fear of a repeat abduction. Since then, several other mass kidnappings of school children have taken place, revealing the inability of government to learn a lesson from the Chibok experience, as well as the abduction of 110 female pupils from Dapchi Yobe State and several other similar occurrences.
