Child education, solution to terrorism, says UBEC chief

Borno’s displaced persons return to communities
Government can end terrorism by initiating education programmes that can take almajiri children off the streets of northern Nigeria.

This was the view of Director, Adamawa State Universal Basic Education Board, Alhaji Saidu Komsiri, at the one-year of Technology Enhanced Learning for All (TELA), end-of-project evaluation programme, run by the American University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola.

He said yesterday in Yola that almajiri children are raw materials for terror groups like the Boko Haram.

Komsiri pointed out that unless the missing gap between the educated and the high level of illiteracy is closed by well-articulated education policies, crime rate would continue to grow.

He maintained: “It is the right of all Nigerian children to get access to quality education. It is the constitutional responsibility of government to provide quality education to all Nigerians.

He said government would continue to spend more on tackling crises, if it refused to spend on providing quality education to all Nigerian children. “Most of the crises are caused by total illiteracy among our youths,” he said.

President of the American University of Nigeria, Professor Esign Margee, said that, by 2050, Nigeria would record world’s highest number of illiterates.

Meanwhile, over 2, 500 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Maiduguri metropolis were full of excitement and relief yesterday as they returned to their ancestral homes in Konduga Council Area of Borno State.

The displaced persons have been in various camps in the state capital since 2014 when Boko Haram captured their communities.

The insurgents had also attacked Konduga, the council headquarters, 40 kilometres east of Maiduguri; the state capital.
Some of the returning IDPs said they hoped to pick up the pieces of their lives and property.

Governor Kashim Shettima said the state government had demarcated 25 hectares of farmlands for the people, urging them not to allow politicians from the city to hijack their lands.

He also assured that the state government would assist them with farm inputs and improved seeds.
The Guardian, during a visit to Konduga Council Area last week noticed that sanitary workers from the Borno State Environmental Protection Agency (BOSEPA) had commenced clearing of debris and shrubs. The workers are also fumigating destroyed houses preparatory to the return of IDPs.