Buhari says insecurity has scared over 12m children out of school

27 Oct Buhari says insecurity has scared over 12m children out of school

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the persistent attacks on educational facilities and abductions of students and teachers have left more than 12 million children currently traumatised and afraid of going to school, especially the girl-child.

He spoke at the fourth International Conference on the Safe Schools Declaration in Abuja, where children made a series of demands on world leaders, including requesting they deny armies access to schools and ensure paths to schools are free of explosives, in a Children’s Manifesto launched yesterday

Authored by 300 children across 10 countries, the manifesto was launched as world leaders met.  Some 112 countries are signatories to the Safe Schools Declaration protocol and Nigeria was among the first 37 member states of the United Nations (UN) that endorsed it in 2015.

The Declaration is an inter-governmental political commitment to ­protect students, teachers, schools and universities from the worst effects of armed conflict.

The Children’s Manifesto paints a grim picture of how children face threats and violence while at school, and focuses on the intense fears felt by children in response to these attacks.

President Buhari, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, lamented that persistent attacks on educational facilities and abductions of pupils have left more than 12 million children traumatised.

He promised to ensure safety and protection of schools in the country, vowing to overhaul the educational system not just to improve on the quality but ensure the provision of a secured environment for learners and teachers.

He lamented that in recent times, all over the world, there has been a myriad of persistent attacks on education and Nigeria is also having its own fair share of these attacks.

He said: “The incessant attacks on the country’s education system, such as kidnapping, abduction of pupils/students, increased activities of insurgents and general insecurity in our schools have exacerbated many factors responsible for the growing number of out-of-school children.

“It is no longer news that at will, bandits, kidnappers and terrorists invade our educational facilities to abduct the learners in large numbers. Some places that have been hit by this menace include Chibok, Dapchi, Buni Yadi, Afaka, Kagora, and Jangebe in Borno, Yobe, Kaduna, Niger and Zamfara states respectively.”

On his part, the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, represented by the Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, said the conference was apt and timely in view of the prevailing security challenges in the country.