By Isah Aliyu Chiroma
I will begin by congratulating you on your victory at the Supreme Court, not only your victory but the people of Bauchi state. The judgment was fair enough to give the people what they chose. The world has seen how people trooped to welcome you at the airport and around the city. Smiling faces, brimming from ear to ear.
During your first tenure, we have witnessed a shift in infrastructural development, creating a cosmopolitan city, with easy mobility and a conducive atmosphere. The roads were beautifully laid, sparkling at noon, when the sun rose and everywhere seemed beautiful. But then, on the other side, our schools, have no roof, no chairs, no adequate teachers to teach those students, and no learning atmosphere. It appears the body was built, but the soul is nowhere to be found. Then, how can the body function?
In 1966 when Alhaji Shehu Shagari returned to Sokoto, he found a profound effect on the life of Sokoto province, a tremendous impact on the life of its people and, the education and development of the children of his province. The situation was worsened by the fact that Sokoto Province was the most educationally backward area of the country. Only 4% of children of school age in Sokoto province were enrolled in School. This was the lowest figure in the entire country.
On a visit to Kaduna during one of the consultative meetings in 1967, Shehu Shagari and Alhaji Ali Akilu went to pay a courtesy call to the Sultan of Sokoto, Sir Abubakar III, who was himself, also visiting Kaduna. Shagari touched on what he saw as the major problem of the people of Sokoto Province. He suggested that the sultan on his return to Sokoto should talk to the people about the need for education. He said, “Only education those days determined the direction and level of development. The only tool is education. The people had to acquire education; it is the best way for them to help themselves”.
But to achieve education in this province, there were three major problems. First, there were very few schools. There was a very dismal number of schools to maintain, in situ, the traditional structure which was useful in the indirect rule system. This has discouraged the establishment of missionary schools and no other voluntary schools to complement.
Secondly, there was no fund; which there was the need for sacrifice. Financial involvement would have to be borne from voluntary donations from the people themselves, most of whom did not have enough even for their requirements such as for food.
The third problem was that the people did not like their children to attend school. This was the major problem. Most people who had sent their children to Western schools before that time had done so more or less by force. Then this was resolved by starting with what the people are interested in, Islamic education. Parents responded positively because their children were going to study Islam and related subjects. This brought about the number of children in schools increased tremendously. Village communities started to build schools. Within one year, more than 50 schools had been established all over Sokoto Province.
Then in the present day, Sokoto State is running a full scholarship for its students across the country. That is why, even a boy in a nearby village inside the university will go to school in the morning, come back, from his uniform, and come to the student hostel for some chores, which he will be paid for and make something for himself. But one important thing here is, whenever you have conversations with some of them, their dream also, is to come to the university. You could imagine how that dream can be easily shattered, without the free education scheme by the state government.
With the state having the highest out-of-school children, not only in northern Nigeria but the country at large, this needs urgent attention. Yes, an education summit was recently held, and the conversation is on, but we need to go behind the screen to do the work. To effect change in the society, we need to begin from the grassroots.
Declaring a state of emergency on education is a good move. To enhance access to quality education, we need to design an education scheme that will work for us. Education is the most important prerequisite for development. Running a free education can be a bold step in this fight because this is a marathon, an unending fight.
As we have seen in Kaduna, former Governor Nasir El-Rufai, expanded access to education by making the first nine years of schooling free for boys and the entire twelve years of primary and secondary education free for girls. This led to an increase in school enrolment from 1.1 million to 2.1 million almost doubling the number of pupils in the state.
To the commissioner of education, this is a big challenge that you need to take and leave up to our expectations. The governor appointed you because he firmly believes that you will be up to the challenge. Then, bring your immense knowledge and wealth of experience, to deploy them and find an everlasting solution to education in the state.
Recently, Bauchi state was chosen as one of the beneficiaries of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), which amounts to $117 million to be shared among six states. This grant will go a long way to address some of the issues in the education sector. We hope the state government will develop a strategy to implement and use the grant judiciously.
With investment and partnership, the education sector in Bauchi can be improved. It might take some time to achieve the desired goals, but we need to the steps as time is not on our side. Sultan Macchido of blessed memory during Babangida regime said something very important that can work in our society. He said the Western and Islamic knowledge each has its modalities. We need to know how we can integrate the two in the context of the North or modernize it.
