Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has warned that Nigeria’s 20 million out-of-school-children could become a fertile ground for the recruitment of future Boko Haram fighters in the next 10 to 15 years.
Ex-President Obasanjo spoke Sunday in Bauchi at the commissioning of some selected projects executed by the Abdulkadir Bala Mohammed administration.
According to UNESCO estimates, Nigeria has about 20 million children of school age who are out of school.
While the Nigerian government has consistently faulted the figure, the global body said only India has more children out of school than Nigeria.
…Also Tinubu’s worry
Expressing similar worry, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had, December last year, raised similar concern when he said: ”We must address this issue by establishing more schools, recruiting teachers, and providing at least one meal a day for the school children, aligning with the progressive ideology we aim to pursue.”
The president spoke when he received in the audience, members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
As a way out, the federal government, in July this year, unveiled the Data Repository, Out-of-School Children’s Education, Teacher Training and Development, and Skill Development and Acquisition (DOTS).
The project, it said, was designed to overhaul the education sector, increase enrolment and ensure the academic security of the nation‘s children.
Minister of State for Education Dr. Yusuf Tanko Sununu who announced this said the DOTS project was to tackle the paucity of coordinated, verifiable, and authentic data in all aspects of the education sector in Nigeria.
“Out-of-school children represents a major thematic area in the eight points agenda of President Bola Tinubu, with priority focus on social welfare, health and education.
“Mr. President is of the believe that the over 20million out-of-school children we have now, represents a group of Nigerians that we have to pay attention to, otherwise miscreants can use them to cause and foment trouble in Nigeria,” Sununu had said.
…Obasanjo’s concern
Expressing concerns, Obasanjo said: “Let me emphasise what we want to do, human capacity building, education and human capacity building are very important. World Bank says we have over 20 million children who should be in school that are not in school for a population of about 230 million.
“So, that is 10 percent of our population that should be in school that are not in school. Governor, your royal highnesses, brothers and sisters, that is recruitment for future Boko Haram, nobody needs to tell us that.”
He said that not equipping the children to develop their innate ability and capacity leaves them for Boko Haram and bandits to exploit.
The former Nigerian leader added: “Apart from being that 10 percent of our population are not being equipped to develop their innate ability and capacity to be able to serve themselves, their family, their community, we are also preparing them to be recruited in 10 to 15 years’ time for whatever form of Boko Haram it will be that time, whatever form of banditry it will be.”
…Donates hearing aids
Also at the event, about 10, 000 hearing-impaired individuals from the North-east region benefited from a N6 billion hearing aid programme under the Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation.
The programme, tagged “Sound Intervention Mission 2024 – So Nigerians May Hear,” was launched by the former president during the one-day visit.
Obasanjo also inaugurated three major road projects constructed by the administration of Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi state.
Speaking at the event, Obasanjo emphasised that the hearing aids were distributed to support individuals with hearing impairments, as part of his foundation’s corporate social responsibility to improve the well-being of people at the grassroots.
The road projects commissioned include the dualisation of the 17.7-kilometer road from Kano Road to Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa International Airport, Dualisation of 7 Kilometer Awala to Maiduguri Road as well as construction of 30-kilometer road connecting Gubi Gari, Bida, Suyi, and Nasarawa, linking Bauchi and Ganjuwa local government areas.
Obasanjo commended Governor Mohammed for his dedication to infrastructure development and called on other governors to emulate his efforts.
In his remarks, Governor Bala Mohammed expressed gratitude to the former president for visiting and recognising the people of Bauchi and the North-east through his health intervention initiative.
He stressed that his administration had prioritised road infrastructure as part of its broader vision for transformation aimed at improving living conditions and driving economic development. (Additional reports from Channels TV)