We learn under tense atmosphere – Students
There is no doubt that the growing insecurity in the Northern part of the country has had negative effects on education in the region. Many students and their parents have fallen victim of the violence in that axis, resulting in an astronomical rise in the number of out-school-children now roaming the streets in the North.
This appalling situation formed the basis of a recent report by the Federal Ministry of Education, disclosing that the Northern part of the country has the highest number of out-of-school students.
For more than eight years, the conflict in the Northeast and the resultant humanitarian crises have dislocated and devastated the lives of millions of children, women and their family members. With children under 15 years of age accounting for about 45 per cent of the country’s population, the burden placed on the education sector, in particular, and others, in general, has become too heavy to bear.
I wish I was not in this part of the country studying. we live in constant fear because of the unknown. learning has not been something we do with enthusiasm. Some of us have lost interest in learning… when things like this happen, there is no place to run to
Already, 40 per cent of Nigerian children aged between six and 11 do not attend any primary school with the northern region recording the lowest school attendance rate in the country, particularly for girls. Despite a significant increase in net enrollment rates in recent years, it is estimated that about 4.7 million children of primary school age are still not in school.
This is a clear indication that insecurity in the North has seriously been a constant threat to education in that region for some years now.
More than half of the over 300 school girls abducted from a school hostel in Chibok, Borno State and another 110 female students seized from a government school in Dapchi, Yobe State, have yet to be returned by their Boko Haram kidnappers. The over 200 lives lost recently in parts of Plateau State to killer herdsmen are clearer indications that security of lives and property in the region is still a mirage.
The widespread and persistent insecurity in the North is enough to erase the value attached to education in the region.
Young Hummat, who just concluded her Interim Joint Matriculation Board programme happily took a direct entry form to study Marketing at the University of Jos, but now her fate is hanging concerning her academic career. She is now hoping for a miracle on how to further her education.
Almost all members of her entire family have been sent to their untimely graves due to the worsening security situation in the Northern part of the country. She has no one else now to lean on except her grandfather, who has survived the various deadly onslaught by killer herdsmen.
When asked why she chose to go to the university in Jos, she said she had lived her entire life in the city and had nowhere else to go.
“I cannot leave Jos because I do not have anywhere else to go to. I have been living with fear, but with God on our side, we will conquer. After the loss, it has not been easy, but God has been faithful. I cannot go to my home town again. Our country is insecure and that is it. Barkin Ladi is my home town,” she said.
Another student of the University of Jos, who simply identified herself as Sophia, described her experience after losing her friends. According to Sophia, she wished she was not attending school in that part of the country.
She said, “One minute the place is peaceful, the other minute it is not. The recent one was terrible, there are some activities that do not hold anymore because of the fear. We cannot go out to read in class at night and others. I wish I was not in this part of the country studying because we live in constant fear because of the unknown. Being in this type of situation, learning has not been something we do with enthusiasm.
“Some of us have lost interest in learning. School actually brought me here. Most of us came for school and most of us that came for school are mostly affected because when things like this happen, there is no place to run to. Even if you want to run, you do not know if where you are running to is worse than where you are coming from. I have lost many of my friends, the last incident a lot of students were killed and injured. “
Speaking in the same vein, a student of the Kano State University, Hafsat Alami, said that a peaceful atmosphere would encourage students to be more serious about their education.
“Education in the North is actually not valued because most parents are illiterates and they believe in hawking to make quick money. I will say that insecurity in the Northern part has also contributed to the menace threatening education. The policemen that are supposed to protect us are selfish. Once you give them fifty naira, they are fine. If insecurity was out of it, I believe education would be valued more in the north. As a student in Kano State University, it has not been easy running about just to be safe, but since my parents are in the North, I do not have any option. We have many children becoming thugs and are used by politicians in the North because of illiteracy,” she said.
Splendor Salama, a student of the School of Nursing, Kaduna, also said, “There was a period that we had to close the school for about 6 months because of a particular crisis in Kaduna; we could not go out. This was a delay for me, especially, and I had to remain at home. Some of my cousins and other relatives have been barred from academics by their parents because of fear. In Kafanchan, some persons have not recovered from the crisis. Some parents lost so much that they can no longer sponsor their children. Farms were destroyed in that axis and there are no longer sources of income for parents to enable them to send their children back to school.”
dons lament situation
A lecturer in the Department of Education Foundation, University of Jos, Dr. Michael Ogundele, said that insecurity in the North had resulted in the massive withdrawal of students from the school.
Ogundele said, “The effect of insecurity is that it has really retarded the quality of education, especially lower education programme. When there is insecurity, every parent will not allow their parents to go to school.
“Parents will be scared; that’s why we have few students in school. This is very common among societies. When there is a problem, you must stay at home. Insecurity has really affected education and caused the level of out-of-school students
to rise.
“Also, in the North now, these internally displaced people should be provided for. There should be a platform for them; if something happens, they can’t run.”
The varsity don also expressed disappointment over the neglect of schools affected by the crisis in the North, arguing that abandoning such structures would destroy education in the region.
He said, “Government should provide for them, schools that have been burnt and destroyed during these crises have not been repaired. They are not even building
new ones.
“The quality and infrastructure should be the role of everyone. Let us allow ourselves to be at peace for security. Let the issue of security be a responsibility of everyone. All these villages are at war, we need to be at peace with one another.”
Also, a professor in the Nigerian Defense Academy, Kaduna, who pleaded anonymity, expressed regret that in the North no learn had the peaceful atmosphere conducive to learning.
He said, “Some Students in the North, especially at the University of Maiduguri, have not been able to attend classes in a very long time. Students live in fear; they cannot even study in a good condition.
“It’s not like there is no security, this is like a war that requires war-like security agents. The security agents cannot locate when the enemies are coming. This type of war is different. Talking about universities, Borno, Yobe and Jos are in it. This war, as you are attacking them with one, they are coming with another thing.
“Students can’t learn in peace. The lecturers and teachers are also affected. Some persons are running away to the other parts, but what happens to those that have nowhere to run to? My conclusion is that the students and graduates will not be able to compete favorably with their counterparts from other parts of the country.”
The dons, therefore, warned that if no drastic action was taken on the issue, the education system in the North would suffer great consequences.
Ogundele said, “Well, in my own view about this, we should come together to end this issue. When we come together to stop this, whether Christian, Muslim or any other religion, we won’t have problem of any kind.
“The quality and infrastructure should be the role of everyone. Let us allow ourselves to be at peace for security. Let the issue of security be a responsibility of everyone. All these villages are at war, we need to be at peace with each
other.”
