Why we must tackle the menace of out-of-school children – Sajoh

Mallam Ahmad Sajoh, the former Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Adamawa, says the problem of out-of-school children needs to be addressed by the government and all stakeholders because of the danger it poses to the society.

Sajoh made the call in Mubi, Adamawa, while delivering the keynote address at the Centenary event of Mubi 1 Primary School.

According to Sajoh, these children now serve as the ready reservoir for the recruitment of Insurgents, Bandits and Kidnappers in our land.

“When we were growing up and on these grounds as kids, the only limitations we had to acquiring quality education were our capacities. Today many of these children are on the streets not out of choice but out of neglect.

“We must address the issue of out-of-school children. Either we use our positions as leaders and policy makers to ensure that this ugly trend is reversed or we use our God-given resources to sponsors orphans and other indigent children to school as a way of reducing out-of-school kids on our streets.

“Like Chief Obafemi Awolowo predicted years ago, the children of the poor denied education will one day deny our children the peace to be educated.

“That unfortunate prediction has come true, but we don’t have to let it perpetuate. We can reverse it through both individual and collective actions,” Sajoh said.

He further observed that no child growing in the streets without care, concern, love and compassion would have the obligation of having pity on the society.

Sajoh, who also urged the revival of Teachers Colleges to have quality teachers that would revive the falling standard of education in public schools, said the current neglect of public schools and proliferation of expensive private schools has created segregation between the children of the rich and poor.

“We must return teacher training to the basic level as was the case in the past. If there is one policy shift that killed quality education in Nigeria, it is the death of Teachers Training Colleges.

“At present we have two educational pathways for a child born in Nigeria. The pathway for the children of the rich leads to attending different schools from children of the poor.

“This is not just breeding a segregated society but creating mistrust among our children right from childhood.

“In our days the son of the king attended the same school as the son of the poor man. That created social harmony. That created a bond stronger than simple connections,” Sajoh observed.

He also reiterated the need for skill acquisition and mentorship for children in line with current realities.

According to him, we need innovative children with skills to create wealth as mere certificates without skills only create frustration which was why we had Boko Haram.

In his opening remarks, the Education Secretary of Mubi North Local Government, Alhaji Ahmed Modibbo, gave the history of the school established in Jan. 1926 following the defeat of German colonial administrators by the allied forces in northern Cameroon.

“After the conquest, the territory was officially handed over to British as a trust territory under the league of nations.

“The establishment of the school was influenced by Sir Hugh Clifford memorandum on education of 1926 with education ordinance which laid the foundation for the establishment of Mubi 1 Primary School on the 4th of January 1926.”

Other speakers who are alumni of the school that spoke on the value of education at the event include the Emir of Mubi, Alhaji Abubakar Isa-Ahmadu, Dr Ahmad Ibrahim, and Alhaji Abdulrahman Buba-Kwaccham, the Chief Launcher for the N100 million Endowment Fund for the school.