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Education Crisis in Northern Nigeria: Urgent call for action to break the cycle of ignorance and inequality, by Abubakar Kado
I am deeply troubled about the state of education for the people living in the northern regions. We must take swift and comprehensive action to ensure that these individuals have access to the same quality of education as those living in other parts of the country. Failing to do so not only perpetuates inequality but also deprives these communities of the opportunity to thrive and contribute to society to their fullest potential.
When you compare the other parts of the nation, you barely find people there to be as carefree and careless about anything they accomplish, even if it’s just living contentedly with their families in their own homes without worrying about threats to them or their kids.
The North has been pulled back by ignorance, and this is still the case because middle-class men in the North are the only ones who boast about having more wives and children than they can support. Ultimately, they were ignorant of family planning at first, misinterpreted a specific Hadith that states, “Beget many children so that I will be proud of you on the day of judgment,” or both.
One Igbo sister once said to me in a chat that people in the North don’t appreciate education. I was offended to hear that from her, but I took a seat and considered her critique. In the end, I realized that she was correct in that some parents in the north believe that attending school is only necessary for those who need government jobs; it is not as though receiving a better education,both Islamic and Western will enable someone to run a successful, purified business. Instead, they believe that having a business or finding other ways to make a living is sufficient. Because they don’t attend school, children lack sex education, and their parents.
Men in Anambra State, a state in southeast Nigeria, are involved in business and believe money can solve all problems. As a result, they don’t care to pursue higher education, whereas women attend school faithfully. In the northern part of the country, things are different because men are more concerned with making money and believe that women should not even attend universities to further their education. Instead, they believe that women should seek knowledge from their parents. Some girls even make the decision to complete their university education in their husband’s home, but this is sometimes a big lie, depriving them of this opportunity because women have few options after marriage.
READ ALSO:Education: Southwest Nigeria has lost its edge, by Abiodun Komolafe
Some men in the north, particularly in the northeast, solely value taking many wives as a Sunna; they either forget that caring for orphans is one of the greatest actions, or they are unaware of the benefits of doing so from an Islamic perspective, or both.
Any man, woman, child, or old who is able to read this message can change the community in which they live by simply making sure that their children attend school, whether it be a religious institution or a Western institution that teaches the younger generation the value of both by setting an example even for themselves. One can also benefit society by helping the younger generation gain access to education, which won’t cost much because public education is nearly free. Get the consent of the child’s parents or legal guardian, spend what little money you have to purchase the child a uniform and some supplies, then take the child to any nearby public school to discuss with the head teacher how the child requires extra care. I know this because I’ve tried it multiple times, and the results were amazing. I still hope to see more opportunities to put in twice as much work.
Here, we can emulate Yoruba lands where people treat their neighbors’ children as their own. If a Yoruba person sees his child misbehaving while his neighbor is around, he considers that neighbor as a bad neighbor for not correcting or punishing the child not to misbehave again. The government may build schools, but it is the people in the society who monitor and encourage the kids to go and learn, just as happened in the old northern Nigeria. Watch over your neighbor’s children as your very own. That nurturing we lack in the new north leads to crimes like phone snatching, hit-and-run, and rape becomes rampant in the society.
It’s clear that there are boko haram, bandits, and kidnappers in the northern borders and bushes, and that there are cults, rapes of minors, phone snatching and rubbing going on in the cities. Therefore, it’s imperative that we take action and educate the children we see on the streets, the children of our neighbors, and ourselves. Education doesn’t just mean sending kids to school; awareness-raising and providing words of encouragement can also make a significant impact. It’s also clear that no NGO would come in and take care of us.
“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today,” Nigerian statesman and political figure Nnamdi Azikiwe famously remarked. He was the nation’s only black governor general from 1960 to 1963 and the first president of Nigeria during the First Nigerian Republic, which ran from 1963 to 1966.
Abubakar Kado is a science educationist with a passion for writing. He hails from Yobe State and can be reached at kadoabubakar63@gmail.com or +234 7069282971.
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