January 24 every year is celebrated as International Day of Education.
It is a day set aside by the United Nations General Assembly to highlight the role of education for peace and development. With the theme: “Learning for lasting peace”, United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), this year focused attention on the vital role of education in building peaceful, fair and sustainable societies. There is indeed no better theme in today’s world where peace is eluding many nations. With the on-going wars between Israel and Palestine, Russia and Ukraine, the Sudan civil war that have left thousands of people dead, the advocacy and sensitisation on the importance of peace and the need to eschew violence and acts capable of causing conflict, discord and the likes become inevitable. In Nigeria, as in some other African countries, there is the need to look at how education can help in stemming the major challenge currently facing the country – insecurity. There is hardly any part of the country free from one form of insecurity or the other.
Terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, communal clashes, and farmer-herder conflicts have long become the order of the day, yet according to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), 14 million Nigerian children and adolescents are out of school. Reports show that a greater number of these children are the almajiris. Most of these young boys who study the Quran and Islamic teachings under the guidance of an Imam (Islamic teacher) have no form of formal education or skills for future employment opportunities. They are seen in many cities and villages in the northern part of the country, in tattered clothes begging for food and money, while their mates are in school learning. It is usually heartbreaking seeing these minors who apparently are from poor homes, adorn dirty green “uniform”, hanging on schools’ fences or waiting at car parks to beg for money from people who have come to pick up their children from schools. These children face health challenges due to poor living conditions, inadequate nutrition and limited access to health care.
The subject of Almajiri system sometimes seems like a no-go area because of its cultural and religious undertone. Yes, some former northern leaders like former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El Rufai and the former Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi were bold enough to speak against the Almajiri System. El Rufai went further to galvanise other northern leaders towards ensuring that the Almajiris received formal education. Unfortunately, today, we are back to the status quo ante. The truth is that there is no way Nigeria can be aiming or planning to effectively deal with the insecurity challenges in the country without dealing with this ticking time bomb called Almajiri system. As have been severally stated, these children are potential recruits for criminal activities. Reports have it that some of them are used as informants by criminals. It is high time the federal and state governments mustered the political will to do something about this social problem.
The elites, traditional and religious leaders from the north must join hands and deal with the menace before it is too late. There is the need to sensitise parents of these children on the importance of enrolling them in schools for formal education and sanctioning parents who allow their children to roam the streets when they are meant to be in school. We have often heard that insecurity is a threat to education, especially in view of the series of kidnappings that have taken place in schools. Some kidnapped students like Leah Sharibu, the Dapchi school girls are still in the hands of their captors. But the fact still remains that education plays a crucial role in tackling poverty and insecurity in any society as it can contribute to the development of a more stable and secure society. The United Nations tells us that education is like a powerful tool that can transform people, giving them the knowledge and skills to be peacemakers in their communities.
Education helps individuals develop critical thinking skills, enabling them to analyse situations, identify problems, and propose effective solutions. This can be applied to addressing the root causes of insecurity in Nigeria. By providing people with the skills and knowledge needed for employment and entrepreneurship, education can contribute to economic development, thereby reducing the motivation for engaging in criminal activities due to poverty. Education can promote understanding, tolerance, and cooperation among diverse groups within the society. By fostering social cohesion, it helps build a sense of community and reduces the likelihood of conflicts that can lead to insecurity. Education can play a role in preventing extremism and radicalisation by promoting tolerance, understanding, and critical thinking. By providing alternative narratives and perspectives, education can counteract the appeal of extremist ideologies.
Incidentally, education is a basic right of every Nigerian child. Chapter two, Section 18 of the 1999 Constitution provides that, “government shall direct its policy towards ensuring that there are equal and adequate opportunities at all levels”. The section went further to emphasise on free, compulsory and universal education up to university level. Also, Section 15 (1) of the Child Rights Act (2003) provides that “Every Child has the right to free, compulsory, and universal basic education, and it shall be the duty of the government in Nigeria to provide such education.” The questions are, how sincere are governments, both federal and states, to implement these laws? How ready are they to invest in education and ensure a brighter future for the children of the poor? In this year’s budget, the proposed spending for education is N1.54 trillion, representing 6.39 percent of the total budget of N27.5 trillion. This falls short of the UNESCO’s recommended 15 per cent annual budgetary allocation on education.
Meanwhile, the same government will budget billions of Naira for renovation of the president’s and vice president’s official residence in Lagos, purchase of exotic cars for lawmakers among other heavy, unimportant expenditures. So, it is high time we got our priorities right in this country. Governments at all levels should prioritise education. Government should improve funding of education in Nigeria particularly at the lower levels, provide conducive environments for learning and cater adequately for the needs and welfare of the teacher. They should secure the schools so that the children will be safe even as they learn. The federal government has informed the nation that trillions of Naira has been saved from the removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu. Could part of this savings not be channelled to the education sector?  Could a large percentage of it not be used to tackle poverty, hunger and other harsh economic situations that are causing children to abandon school across the country?
As UNESCO advised, government should improve planning in the education sector and address some of the systematic barriers that hinder the implementation of an effective education strategy in Nigeria. There should be the willingness to deal with socio-cultural norms and practices that discourage attendance in formal education, especially for girls. States that have either not passed or assented to the Child Rights Act should be encouraged to do so. There should be full implementation of the Act and stiff penalty meted on parents who allow their children and wards to roam the streets begging, hawking items or playing during school periods. To tackle the rising rate of insecurity and conflict in Nigeria, government must pay due attention to education which will inculcate desirable human traits like honesty, sincerity, hard-work, punctuality, productivity, innovation, patriotism, selflessness, brotherhood in not only the children and the youth, but all Nigerians especially those in leadership positions.
As opined by a renowned scholar, Dike V, “….. without treating education as a public-health issue that requires serious attention, the youths will continue to receive inferior education; they will continue to suffer mass unemployment and armed bandits will continue to rise; the society will continue to have illiterates and mediocres as political leaders; the society will continue to have political parties without ideology, and Nigeria will continue to fall behind economically, socially and politically.”

Calista Ezeaku