Zulum: How to restore education, rescue out-of-school children

With the enrolment of 1.5 million out-of-school children in primary and secondary schools in Borno State, Governor Babagana Zulum has taken a visionary and empathetic action, as a leader, to confront a major repercussion of terrorism around his domain. No doubt, Borno State has suffered, probably more than any other state, in the destruction trailing the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria. His insistence that the children must be educated despite their poor background, the onslaught of Boko Haram terrorists against western education, and the fact that many of the pupils have been orphaned by the senseless insurgency in the northern part of the country is worthy of support.

Nevertheless, Zulum should know that the war is not over, and victory is still far. It will take a lot more than the rehabilitation of schools to convince and persuade students and parents alike of the necessity of schooling. The destruction has been massive: of schools’ structure, abduction of students, the killing of teachers and parents, and the prevalence of an environment of fear and trepidation. These won’t go away quickly, nor will their traces evaporate rapidly.  Moreover, Boko Haram is yet to be decimated even as the military remains relentless in its war against them.

Nonetheless, Zulum’s latest investment in children’s education stands out in the terrorism-torn northern states as one not easily given to defeat.  His action is hope rekindled for hopeless children and a practical step towards making the children less vulnerable to recruitment for criminal activities by terrorist groups. His is an intervention capable not only of brightening the future of Borno State but also signifying how not to accept terror as a norm.

Governors of other insurgency-ravaged states in the northern region need to emulate Zulum to restore the battered glory of the area. They need to extend collaboration among themselves and with the federal government on ways to completely eradicate the terrorism scourge from the states, or else Zulum’s efforts and those of others will amount to nothing.

Out-of-school children are those in the official primary school age range but are not enrolled in either primary or secondary schools for some reasons, including economic barriers, early/child marriage, conflict, and socio-cultural norms. It is on record that there are between 18 million and 20 million such children in Nigeria. In the case of northern Nigeria, where there are more out-of-school children, it is majorly caused by terrorism, particularly in recent years, as terrorists have launched deliberate attacks on children’s education.  The situation has serious implications on the children and the nation, exposing children who are deprived of education to grow into adults with limited economic and self-sustaining opportunities. Their lack of education puts a ceiling over them in many ways but raises the probability of them getting involved in criminal activities. And when that happens, the untrained children make life miserable for the rest of the society.

Governor Zulum, who disclosed the investment in children’s education at the inauguration of the Government Secondary School, Mairi, Maiduguri, alongside the World Bank Country Director in Nigeria, Dr. Ndiame Diop, said the initiative had hugely reduced the number of out-of-school children in the state by 70 per cent. He also revealed that so far, 104 schools and 2,931 classrooms have been reconstructed, with millions of instructional materials distributed to basic and secondary schools across Borno State.

Since 2009, Boko Haram and affiliated terrorist groups, including the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP), have launched a devastating assault on education in northern Nigeria, killing teachers and students, kidnapping students and recruiting many into their evil groups, and destroying education infrastructure in their determination to eradicate western education and impose warped religious doctrine to cover their expansionist ambition.

According to a report by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a group that monitors political violence in the country, the Boko Haram terrorists have been linked to the killing of over 38,255 people in Nigeria since 2011. Besides, they have been identified as responsible for the abduction of thousands of children. The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has reportedly confirmed that thousands of teachers have been killed in attacks on schools between 2009 and 2022, more than 19,000 teachers displaced, over 1,500 schools closed for security reasons, and 910 schools destroyed by terrorists.

In this attack on education, the girls seem to be the major focus. The terrorists who have a serious disregard for female education have been relentless in their abduction of girls in schools.

As the children who used to roam the streets are being enrolled in schools, the authorities in Borno State should be mindful of the content of the school curriculum and ensure that the pupils learn ethics, values, virtues, and norms that can make them grow into responsible adults for themselves and their country. They should not be exposed to dangerous and retrogressive ideologies, including that of the Boko Haram terrorist group, which is deeply rooted in anti-western sentiments and anti-education.

There is also the need to address the issue of culture, which can be difficult to separate from the Islamic religion. The kids need to be taught to work hard to achieve their dreams in life against the practice of begging for alms. Borno children should be taught about tackling the trauma that the war against terrorism has brought upon them. Indeed, the psychological trauma of witnessing violence and fearing for their lives would have left many of the children with lasting emotional scars. Many of the kids are now orphans who witnessed how terrorists brutally murdered their parents and other loved ones. The trauma caused by this should be addressed. The government should strengthen school security and raise the budgetary allocation for adequate funding.

We state that while the protection of the education of children is crucial in restoring and boosting access to learning, what should be the larger picture is how to safeguard their future in a world that is now on the verge of a technological shift. Education has become critical in unlocking individual and national potential. It deserves adequate attention.

All northern leaders should be involved in getting the children educated. It is how they can get out of the allegation of a deliberate policy to train a few children so that others can serve them. Besides, they have a responsibility to save education from further becoming a casualty of war in their terrorism-ravaged region. Above all, all hands must be on deck to end terrorism and banditry once and for all.