Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has said that the issue of Almajiri and out of school children has become a national challenge that needs to be addressed before it gets out of control.
Governor Abiodun stated this while receiving a member of National Commission for Almajiri and Out of School Children’s Education, in his office at Oke-Mosan Abeokuta, describing the issue of Almajiri and out of school children in the country as a menace and a concern, as they could be easily manipulated to cause havoc in the country.
“The issue of Almajiris is a national challenge. It is not a challenge for a section of this country, but a national challenge. The National Security Adviser and I sometimes ago discussed this issue and we deliberated on what actionable steps can be taken that are implementable, breaking them down into immediate, medium to long and sustainable steps, to ensure that we collectively deal with the issue which I described as a volcanic eruption that appears dormant, but very viable.
“This is a very sad development in the history of this nation and this is as a result of years of neglect of the situation and my position is that we can successfully tackle it. This will be one of President Bola Tinubu’s best legacies. It will be an enduring legacy and I know that the President under his Renewed Hope Vision, is very passionate about ensuring that he reduces the number of Almajiris and out of school children to absolute minimum”, he said.
He attributed the high number of out of school children in the state to large students’ population due to influx of people from other parts of country to work or live in the State, adding that his administration is taking steps to address the situation.
“When you look at statistics, it shows that Ogun State has an unusual high percentage of out of school children in the South-West. In the primary sector, it shows 10.3 percent, compared to the South-West region of 6.2 percent. In the Junior Secondary School, we have 12. 1 percent, compared to 8.5 percent in the South-West average; in the Senior Secondary School, we have 20. 9 percent compared to 19.2 percent average in the South-West.
” But you know statistics a times can be misleading so when you look at the number of students we have in Ogun State compared to the number of students for example a state like, Ekiti State, and you see Ekiti State showing a lower out of school children, you can begin to understand why ours is high because we have by far, more students than some of these states combined.
“That itself is not an excuse but something to ensure that we deliberately begin to work, in order to ensure we reduce this to the barest minimum. That means we are also an interested party in view of what we are going through in our state.
“I assure you that as the Governor of Ogun State and the Chairman of the Southern Governor’s Forum, we will do our best to address this issue even though we have a lower number of out of school children in the south”, he said.
He promised that the state would provide the Commission with office accommodation, as well as provide a focal person to liaise with its officials to meet the objective of addressing the challenge.
On his part, the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Alternative Education, Hon. Almustapha Rabah, said Nigeria has the highest number of out of school children after Pakistan and India, urging all hands to be on deck to combat the issue headlong.
Also speaking, Executive Secretary of the Commission, Dr. Muhammad Idris, noted that Nigeria has about 30 million Almajiris roaming the streets due to lack of parental care, adding that apart from constituting nuisance, they were being manipulated and recruited into banditry, while some were lured into terrorism, thereby posing security challenge to the nation.
He called for the cooperation of the southern governors to address the issue, stating that no part of the country is safe if the future of the children was in jeopardy.
