Ahmad Sajoh, a former Adamawa State commissioner for information and strategy, has drawn attention to the Northern elites’ neglect of their duty to empower the youth. He used an example from the demonstration, when kids broke into the Kano Library and stole everything but books, to highlight the complexity of this problem.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
He argued that this behavior demonstrates a troubling deviation from societal expectations and priorities which is reflecting on the broader neglect of education in Northern Nigeria. He lamented that these neglected children have become prime targets for recruitment by insurgents, bandits, and kidnappers.
He said in an interview with Arise TV, ”What played out is a clear indication of the abdication of the role and responsibilities of the Northern elites. We have abdicated our role and responsibilities to empower our young people. We have allowed a large army of uneducated out of school children who are now walking about the streets without homes and families. They don’t understand what is family, they don’t understand what is societal norms and they are roaming the street.
And we could see children not age 5 to 10 coming out to protest. When these children broke into Kano Library, they took everything except books. Not one book was taken away by any of them. That tells you the direction these guys are following is totally different from whatever you are thinking of. So we have neglected education in Northern Nigeria and we have allowed a large army of uneducated young people to be roaming around streets. And many of them have been the reservoir from where insurgents have been recruiting their army. They have been the reservoir from where Bandits and Kidnappers have been recruiting their army to perpetrate criminal activities all over the place.”CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
