Buhari decries rising figure of out of school children caused by terrorists, bandits

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday decried the rising figure of out of school children in northern Nigeria as a result of the protracted violent activities of terrorists in the northeast and bandits in the northwest.

President Buhari, represented by his Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari, at the fourth International Conference on Safe Schools Declaration in Abuja, on Tuesday,  lamented that the intractable terrorism  and banditry are responsible for the rise in the figure  of out-of-school children in Nigeria. He noted that attacks on schools, kidnapping of school children and workers, and killings by bandits and terrorists have created fears, forcing schools to be shut down by state governments or parents withdrawing their wards from schools for safety.

According to the Chief of Staff to President Buhari: “The incessant attacks on the country’s education system in the form of kidnapping, abduction of pupils; students through the increased activities of insurgents and general insecurity in our schools have been chief among contributing factors responsible for the growing number of out-of-school children.

“These perpetrators of evil, having turned their attention to innocent children in boarding schools or institutions outside city limits, adopt young learners in large numbers.”

Gambari maintained that the fear of being kidnapped and the traumatic experiences of school children, who have been victims of kidnapping, are compelling factors that made many children of school age stay out of schools, thus, increasing the figure of out-of-school children in the country.

The chief of staff was, however, silent on what the government is doing to arrest the insecurity crisis and turn the trend. He, though, emphasised that the government system requires a total overhaul and changes by the government to improve the education sector.