News can be good and can be bad. This one is bad news and it is sad. Hear the bad news: “Following the growing rate of abduction of school girls in the Northeast, Borno State Government yesterday (March 13) shut female boarding schools in 25 local government council areas of the state”. Breaking the news to journalists in Maiduguri, the state Commissioner for Education, Comrade Inuwa Kubo, explained that the measure was a pre-empting step for now, against further abduction of girls. The commissioner further stated that all the female boarding schools in the 25 local government council areas were affected with the exception of Maiduguri and Biu Local Government Councils.
He went: “We have decided to relocate all our girls in boarding schools within Maiduguri or Biu because we do not want a recurrence of the Chibok case. If the entire security situation is not addressed, one cannot be sure of what could happen. If people start seeing that overtime, there is no more attack, they will know that peace has returned.
“But in a situation where you cannot move to some parts of the state without an escort and you are hearing that in some cases soldiers are being ambushed, do you deceive yourself and say everything is okay?
“We cannot allow them to continue to remain in boarding schools where the security is porous. We have to relocate the girls to boarding schools within the metropolis and we equally took proactive steps on the male boarding schools. Because they cannot be said to be interested in girls alone; it is just that they found more attraction in abducting girls. There is more to gain by the insurgents when they abduct girls because of the concern the people and government have for the womenfolk.
“We have collapsed all the girls’ schools into Biu and Maiduguri. There are some other communities which operate all-girl schools but are not boarding schools, as the girls now go back to their homes to sleep,” the commissioner explained.
Kubo nevertheless applauded the police in Borno for deploying their men in schools within the state but charged them to maintain and sustain the tempo.
As earlier pointed out, it is sad because of the closure of the girls’ boarding schools in the 25 of the 27 local government council areas of Borno. This is, indeed, a bad omen for the much-talked girl-child education. It is also a distressing signal, mostly to the womenfolk and mothers, that their daughters’ education is now somewhat imperilled. It is sad as this typifies the symbolic projection of a system or government that cannot protect its own. On April 14, 2014, over 200 schoolgirls were abducted at Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, and few weeks back, Government Girls Science Technical College, Dapchi in Yobe State suffered the same fate when over 110 schoolgirls were abducted by the insurgents.
It is sad because of the closure of the girls’ boarding schools in the 25 of the 27 local government council areas of Borno. This is indeed a bad omen for the much-talked girl-child education. It is also a distressing signal, mostly to the womenfolk and mothers
Though the Dapchi schoolgirls were reportedly rescued last week, it is regrettable that five of them died in the battle to regain their freedom.
Aside the Chibok and Dapchi incidents, students, both boys and girls, were either abducted or killed outright. For example, on July 6, 2013, 24 pupils, a teacher and an Islamic preacher were killed when gunmen suspected to be terrorists attacked Government Secondary School, Mamudo, Yobe State. On October 1, 2013, Boko Haram militants murdered about 50 students of Yobe College of Agriculture, Gubja, when they invaded the students’ hostel in the night. Similarly, on February 25, 2014, Boko Haram suspects attacked Federal Government College, Buni Yadi killing 29 students and injuring several others. The episode is echoing. It is sad as no one knows whose turn is next.
It is sad that the unprovoked and senseless war inflicted, especially on the people of northeast and notably, Borno and Yobe, is still on-going with consequential destruction and damages in human and material losses. Already, about three million Internally Displaced Persons have been recorded with over 50,000 orphans and about 60, 000 widows.
It is sad we have lost a sizeable number of our military men in rank and file as well members of the vigilance groups. It is sad that a generation of youths is almost gone in this dastardly ‘inferno’.
It is sad; we see hope in a minute and disappointment in the next second. The more the intensity of heat on the insurgents by the military, the more deadly the terrorists respond, especially on soft targets.
It is sad that some politicians and groups in the Northeast, especially in Borno State, are frustrating the efforts of the military to end the insurgency, apparently for their selfish ends.
It is also sad that some unpatriotic ones in the military are working against the interest of the nation by working against the success of the war against the insurgency, for self-interest.
It is sad that while the terrorists are moving in the speed of a meteor and proactive in their deadly acts, we are moving in the speed of a snail and probably prevaricating.
It is also sad, that a war of seven or eight years so far, is not showing signs of abating! It is sad that Boko Haram insurgency has metamorphosed into anything thinkable with vested interest-politics, religion, economy and the rest.
It is sad that Nigeria is fighting a war where dogs eat dogs. It is sad that we are fighting a war where most participants, though want equity and justice, are not prepared to come forward with clean hands.
Izekor, a journalist and public affairs analyst, is a member of the Board of Advisers, The Point.
