Of Boko Haram And Borno Educational System

Education is an essential for economic, social and cultural development of all societies. Without it, the citizens cannot blossom and the nation cannot progress. It is, thus, undeniable that for individuals, education is the ladder of opportunity. For communities, it is the base of common values that holds diverse people together. For nations, it is the engine of economic growth. And for all who believe in freedom, education provides the moral foundation for democracy guided by respect for individual dignity and the rule of law.
Historically, Borno State, which was founded in 1976, initially comprised the present Borno and Yobe State. Prior to the advent of insurgency, it has been a relatively peaceful, multicultural and dynamic state in Nigeria. The state is fortunate to have human and natural resources, which have created many opportunities for its indigenes and other Nigerians to live in harmony. Borno State started experiencing the global trend of insurgency from 2009. Which led to the gruesome killings of innocent Nigerian citizens perpetrated by an insurgent group called Boko Haram- Since 2009, they have disrupted educational system in Borno State with huge negative effect on basic education.
Geographically, Borno State is the largest State in Nigeria in terms of land mass territory which covers 69,435 square kilometers, and is located in the north eastern part of Nigeria.
Educationally, the state is a centre for education to all its International and national neighbours such as the northern part of Cameroun, the southern part of Chad and Republic of Niger. The major tribe in Borno State is called “Kanuri” which constitute the higher hierarchy in the management of education system in the state.
Occupationally, majority of the people in Borno State are famers, fishermen and herdsmen who, however, send their children to the schools. The State is having a conventional university known as University of Maiduguri, a polytechnic, colleges of education, many senior secondary schools as well as many basic schools.
Boko Haram dislikes children, prevents them from attending schools, and persistently committing criminal offences ranging from kidnapping of school pupils and attacking teachers in schools. There is major destruction of school activities in the state. Recent past, they used under-age girls to carry out suicide bombing of major shopping malls, cinema halls and bus stations. This is in addition to the abduction of school children and the elderly.
Since 2012 at least 70 teachers and over 100 students have been killed or wounded in northern Nigeria. Education facilities have been burnt, thousands of children forced out of schools, and teachers made to flee for safety.
Amnesty International reports on flagrant violations of the right to education of both Christian and Muslim Nigerians trapped in Boko Haram’s spiral of lethal violence. The destruction and closure of schools, the flight of teachers and pupils and the pervading sense of fear, are paralysing the educational system in North-East Nigeria. Not only are the consequences catastrophic in the short term, in the long term they are likely to have a disastrous impact on regional development.
Children can’t attend schools-even if they want to-because of fear of the insurgency. During the period from 2010 to 2013 many school teachers and students were killed in a broad day light. Boko Haram members would just invade a primary or secondary school kill as many the teachers as they can find in that school, just as students would either be killed or kidnapped. This issue causes a serious problem in the educational sector of Borno State to the extent that the federal government orders the closure of all primary and secondary schools in the state till further notice.
The abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls in Nigeria highlights a new focus by Islamists on education. The terror group Boko Haram is targeting schools in its north-eastern stronghold with increasing ferocity, and the government seems powerless to respond. Officials in the capital, Abuja, are keen to pass off the “extremism designed to keep girls back” as a global issue, perhaps to detract from the fact that their troops have failed to contain the insurgency.
Schooling in the worst-affected parts of the country has become almost impossible. Most secondary schools in Borno, where the girls were kidnapped, have closed. Staggering 10m Nigerian youngsters are not in school, out of a total population of 160m, more than at the end of military rule in 1999. Most of them are girls. Instead of learning to read, young women are married off in their teens. Out-of-school boys are often recruited into terrorist ranks, perpetuating a cycle of poverty and instability.
Sometime ago, the threat by an anonymous group that necessitated the closure of the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) was instructive and self-explanatory. The threat, which was neither from the Academic Staff
Union of Universities (ASUU), National Universities Commission (NUC) nor issued by a court of competent jurisdiction, took less than 24 hours for the university authority to enforce. This brings to bare confusions over who is now temporarily in charge of the education sector.
To eradicate Boko Haram’s operations is a collective effort of all and sundry in the country. Nigerian’s should unite as one is to stop this insurgency and similar problems in the country, because when there is no unity, the country will become vulnerable to all sorts    of insecurity.
Government at all levels should put their resources together to fight this menace to the end in order that peace and harmonious relationship will be in the land. Government at all levels should use whatever medium they can think of to stop Boko Haram from terrorising this country because once there is no peace the educational system would always be moving backward our youths are not educated our country will have no future. So government should use whatever force to stop this insurgency.
The Boko Haram menace in Nigeria behoves governmental and non- governmental organisations, public and private institutions to come together to either use dialogue or other legitimate means to tackle.
Government agencies should also not take this matter lightly, they should stand firm and do their possible best to stop this problem before it takes over our dear nation.
The media, as the fourth estate of the realm, should stand on their functions of informing, educating and mobilising Nigerians against the operation called Boko Haram. Yet, the media message at this time should be the message of hope, encouragement and harmonious relationship among Nigerians, despite all odds.
Tom is an intern with The Tide.