TRIBUNE ONLINE
Former senator representing Kaduna Central senatorial district, Senator Shehu Sani has claimed that over ten thousand schools in the North have closed due to kidnapping and terrorism.
He made this known at Arewa House, Kaduna during the 15th Ralph Opara Memorial Lecture on Girl Child Education, organized by the National Association of Seadogs, Pyrate Confraternity (NAS/PC).
Senator Sani noted that “Most of those who are engaged in banditry and terrorism today, are young people in their 20s and 30s. If we had provided them the education they need, they wouldn’t have carried arms and be attacking people.”
“I’m calling on the government of President Bola Tinubu to as far as I’m concerned invest in education, security and agriculture. These are the basic things.’
“If we want to get the issue of security and education right in the North, we need to be serious about the issue of education.
Right in this Arewa House, is where Sardauna of Sokoto lived, where he was killed in 1966, where the North was founded.
During his time, he provided facilities and resources to educate the generation of leaders who took over power…He was selfless and sacrificed all he had.
The public schools that produced some of the best brains in Nigeria are schools we cannot take our children, now public primary schools have been destroyed, public secondary schools have been destroyed, and public education too.
“From a little research I conducted over 10,000 schools are closed due to banditry and terrorism in the Northern region.
“And then, you can see,…most of those who were Presidents, Governors, Senators, Captains of industries, all benefited from public education. If Northern Nigeria wants to get it right, it must invest in education. The schools that produced the best brains in Nigeria are uninhabitable today. They are no longer conducive for learning. We have seen how kidnapping and terrorism destroyed public education in Nigeria.”
“Look at what happened to girls at Federal Government College Yauri. Look at what happened to young girls at a college in Zamfara State. Look at what happened even in Kaduna State, today. Terrorism has become a serious problem as far as education in Nigeria is concerned. We need to get things right and we have to do it now.”
“The government of President Tinubu, as far as I’m concerned, what we need now is education, security and investment in agriculture. These are the basic things. I want to make this categorically clear, it is the right of people to criticise the government, to express their opinion.
