Nation
Don Urges FG To Review Safe School Initiative Policy
A Security Scholar at the University of Ibadan, Prof Oyesoji Aremu, has advised the Federal Government to review the 2014 Safe School Initiative Policy to include security education.
Aremu stated this in an interview with The Tide source in Ibadan yesterday while speaking on how to curb insecurity challenges in Nigerian schools.
According to him, it was worrisome and very disturbing that as of the second week in July, not less than 348 students, some running to months, according to UNESCO are still in the dens of bandits.
He said that It would take a very serious commitment and efficacy for such distraught students and their parents to think of returning to schools.
“Abductions of school children and personnel should therefore, attract more concerted efforts and zests that will gear toward restoring the school system back to normalcy.
“That itself can be guaranteed if the entire country is safe of banditry and insurgency.
“Above all, it is instructive for the Federal Government of Nigeria to review the 2014 policy on Safe School Initiative with a view to incorporating security education,” Aremu said.
The don said the Nigerian School System especially the Primary and Secondary sub-sectors have never had it so bad as it was presently going by the ceaseless war against it.
“Call it, ‘banditcracy’ if you like. Our school system in the North is under a siege through which, teaching and learning are no longer guaranteed and cannot also be provided.
“Between December, 2020 and the first week of July, not less than 1000 school children have been kidnapped and millions of naira paid as ransoms.
“The latest being the abduction of 140 students of Bethel Baptist High School, Kajuma in Kaduna State,” he said.
Aremu, who is also the Chairman, Educational Management Board of the Baptist Mission schools of the Nigerian Baptist Convention said never in our history have we lost students to kidnapping as we witnessed in the last eight months.
Speaking on its implications for the education sector, he said “the development has not only portend a bleak future for the entire country.
“I fear that the effects of school insecurity will sooner than later, reverberate to the entire country in terms of a resurgence of crimes in various shades and dimensions.
“This is not to say about the collapse that will greet whatever remains of Western education in many parts of the North,” he said.
“Statistics have it that Nigeria has the highest record of out-of-school children globally of more than 10 million students.
“Unfortunately, school insecurity accounts for the larger chunk of the reasons, followed by COVID-19 which ravaged the globe in 2020,” he said.
Aremu, however, noted that while COVID-19 had been curtailed to a great extent, violence against the school system was alarmingly on the increase.
He noted that “the entire North accounts for more than 70 per cent of out-of-school children in Nigeria. Unfortunately, school insecurity is more pronounced in the region especially in the North East and West.”
According to him, this in essence means that Nigeria may witness more out-of-school children in some years to come in that part of the country.
“As the country continues to witness school insecurity resulting in abductions, many schools as being reported will be closed down; and thousands of children will, out of morbid fear and anxiety, drop out.
“Similarly, many youngsters will develop poor school esteem and lack of interest as a result of post-traumatic abduction-ladden stories of many of their peers who either, their parents paid ransoms or were lucky to have escaped from the captivity of bandits.
“All these could culminate into extinction of schools especially in the North if the ugly situation is not halted.
“Unfortunately, if the inperson school system becomes extinct in the North, our educational system is not mature and does not have the technological infrastructure to run a home school system,” Aremu said.
Nation
Mbah Inaugurates ESUT Governing Council
The Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, has inaugurated the newly constituted Governing Council of the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), in line with Section 6 (1) of ESUT Establishment Law, stressing that education remains the strongest weapon to fight poverty.
The Governing Council has Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa as Chairman with Prof. Ikenna Chukwu, Engr. James Ifeanyi, Mrs. Gladys Okoro, Hon. Chinedu Onu and Dr. Eric Oluedo as members.
He noted that the Governing Council was constituted based on competence and the expressed confidence that the institution and state government would benefit from members of the Council, given their track records, networks and experience.
Mbah, while calling on the new Governing Council to ensure operational effectiveness of the institution, urged both Council and the Management to work hand-in-hand to realise the lofty dreams for which the institution was founded.
“You know that your responsibility as the Governing Council of the university is widespread and is far-reaching. And it is my hope that you are going to cultivate a harmonious relationship with the management team of the university. You should see your roles as complementary. That is the only way we can achieve the objective of the university.
“Of course, our expectation is that you are going to put in place an effective control in the area of management of finance and the investment of the university; and that you are going to see yourselves as bringing value to what the management team of the university is doing. So, it is our hope and belief that there will be a harmonious relationship between the Council and the management of the university.
“It is also my hope that this inauguration would in effect redouble the operational effectiveness of the university.”
He reminded the members of the Governing Council that their appointments came at a very auspicious time when the government had earmarked 33 per cent of the annual budget for education, stressing that it underscored his administration’s belief that “education is the strongest weapon with which to fight poverty.”
“We are constructing 260 smart schools across the 260 wards of our state. We are establishing a Centre for Experiential Learning. Similar centers like the tech hubs and the innovation hubs are also being set up in the state
Nation
Kebbi Commences Census Of Almajiri Schools
Kebbi State government through the Ministry of Religious Affairs has commenced the census of Almajiri schools across the State to identify the parents, origin, location as well as number and age of the pupils with a view to finding lasting solution to the educational system.
The Commissioner for Religious Affairs, Muhammad Sani Aliyu, who revealed this at the ongoing ministerial briefing organised by the Ministry of Information and Culture held in Birnin Kebbi, said the Ministry was working round the clock to fashion out modalities that would position Almajiri system of education side by side with the secular education for the overall development of the society.
He stressed that the current state of Almajiri education where children below the age of five were sent to schools without means of sustenance, forcing them to roam streets and houses begging for means of survival was in direct contrast to the teachings of Islam, a problem the Ministry was poised to correct.
Aliyu said the Ministry would henceforth regulate the conduct of Almajiri training, streamline the concept of Almajiri education as well as improve Almajiri system of education in order to curb the vices associated with the deviants amongst the Almajirai who usually end up in political thuggery and drug addiction.
The commissioner also revealed that through the Zakat Department, the Ministry between May 2023 and March, 2024 had treated 23,542 psychiatric related cases across the State free of charge in Neuro Psychiatric Programme Outreach of the State being carried out on Saturdays and Sundays.
The patients, he said, were drawn from the 21 local government areas of the State, neighbouring States as well as Benin and Niger Republics and are treated at Zauro General Hospital, on the outskirts of Birnin Kebbi with medical personnel drawn from Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital and Usumanu Danfodio Teaching Hospital all in Sokoto.
Nation
Bauchi Rewards Community With 200 Bags Of Rice For Preventing Looting
The government of Bauchi State has applauded Daben Kasuwa community in Ganjuwa Local Government Area for safeguarding a fallen trailer loaded with grains against looting.
For a commendable display of integrity, the community was awarded 200 bags of rice and millet as a token of appreciation.
This act of communal vigilance became widely acknowledged following a viral social media video that captured the villagers protecting the overturned truck from potential looters.
Governor Bala Mohammed, represented by the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Abdu Hassan, during the reward ceremony, lauded the residents of Daben Kasuwa for their exceptional behaviour, contrasting sharply with recent incidents of mass looting in various parts of Nigeria fuelled by rising food prices and widespread hunger.
The governor’s accolades were specifically directed towards the youth of Daben Kasuwa, acknowledging their role in positively distinguishing the LGA and Bauchi State at large.
On behalf of the community, Sarkin Daben Kasuwa, Malam Sanusi Sale expressed gratitude towards the State’s recognition and reward.
He highlighted the community’s long-standing record of peace and low crime rates, and seized the opportunity to appeal to the government for the provision of essential services such as clean water, education, electricity and healthcare facilities in Daben Kasuwa.
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