Kidnappings and education in the north

After 2018 Dapchi kidnap in Yobe State, we had thought that school kidnapping is a barbarity left in the pit of our inglorious past. Alas, that is not the case. The recent orgy of school kidnappings which had brought hues and cries from all the orifices of the North has kept one popping antacid, wondering: why the North again? Why kidnappings again in a region where kids should rather be encouraged to go to school, no thanks to the anachronistic Almajiri system. Why again in a region which harbours 69 per cent of out-of-school Nigerian children.

North as a region with dilapidated educational system, should rather be made secure so female students can be sensitised on reasons to take their studies to tertiary level before or after which their hands could be given out in marriage.

Education is already hitting its nadir in the North. Kidnappers would dig deeper. Innocent kids would be scared, so scared of going to school. More kids would wander on the streets of the North. And the few that would manage to continue are still not guaranteed safety out of their school premises. Such is the unsafe state of not just the North, but Nigeria.

Insecurity has gotten to the acme of its control; the whole of Nigeria is its palace. North is where its blood-consuming throne is placed. If care is not taken, innocent kids that kidnapping would chase out of schools are those who will extend the base of banditry in the future. God forbid that happens.

The Federal Government has got a lion share of the responsibility. No nation is secure without a friendly atmosphere and a sound economy. Northern men tend to do the hardest tasks that could cross one’s mind; yet, the debilitating economy has made living harder for them and every other citizen. You can’t make people hungry and have security. The more the hunger, the more insecurity and no goodwill this have on the safety of innocent school children.

Kids deserve to go to school with rest of mind. The thought of getting kidnapped is unfortunately what Nigeria has left popping on their unripe minds. It is high time North brought this barbarity to a halt. Absolute security is the first right students are entitled to in education. No student should choose between being safe or going to school.

Hashim Yussuf Amao,

Ibadan.

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