Schools Without Guns

The number of Nigeria\’s charting-topping out-of-school children are on a steady increase. Currently, about 10.5 million Nigerian kids are out-of-school. One in every five of the world\’s out of school children is in Nigeria, according to the United Nations Children\’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).  Owing to sociocultural and socioeconomic factors, and other structural vulnerabilities, thousands of children in Nigeria may never attend school. The possibility of being in school is also impacted by violence and conflict.

On Friday 11th December 2020, hundreds of schoolboys were abducted in Kankara, Katsina state by armed bandits. The attack replicates the 2014 abduction of 276 schoolgirls in Chibok by Boko Haram insurgents; about 100 of the girls are still missing. In reaction to the Kankara boys’ abduction, Jigawa and Zamfara state governments have closed down schools in their states.

Education for all is exceedingly challenged in Nigeria. For example, a safe school is quite a myth in Boko Haram-rampaged Northeast and the now bandits\’ playfield, the Northwest zone. The risks Nigerian kids face in accessing education impacts the hopes of achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4, which is quality education. The continued exclusion of many Nigerian children in educational opportunities due to violence will affect their ability to access economic opportunities and deepen human capital deficits. Socioeconomic challenges are already contributing to conflict in violent hotspots. Education is expected to prepare the young population in becoming economically buoyant and self-reliant. Contrary to these foreseeable gains education promises, Nigerian kids face life-impacting experiences in their quest to access education.

The nation and its development partners are striving to break the yokes of poor access to education in Nigeria, especially in the violent zones. However, renewed attacks on schools will further discourage people from accessing education intervention programmes. For example, in 2014, the Global Business Coalition for Education and A World at School launched a ‘Safe Schools Initiative’. This was a response to the 2014 abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State Nigeria. The initiative aims to promote safe school spaces. Despite an initial $10 million fund and take-off with 500 pilot schools in Northern Nigeria, many kids still face grave dangers in places of learning.

It is clear that Nigeria already has a problem of out-of-school children that is now worsened by renewed insecurities. Government must focus on making schools safer for children. As armed non-state actors continue to attack schools, more children within school-age will miss out on education and life-enhancing opportunities. Human capital development will plumb new depths in the affected areas, and this can propel further hostilities. It is crucial to renew academic schedules in terror hotspots based on the ground situation. Government must improve partnerships with development agencies to increase education intervention funds in violent hotspots. Education intervention strategies must now have a robust conflict-sensitive component that will ensure the safety of the academic environment.

New engagements at the local level must establish community security networks that will safeguard learning fields. A community policing approach in rural communities that is supported by formal security structures will help to securitise communities and encourage learning. Intervention efforts and security measures must include community actors in collectively ensuring the safety of school children in Nigeria. The future of Nigerian children entrapped in violent-prone locations looks bleak without education. And their vulnerabilities to violent conflict, both as victims and perpetrators, will be significantly increased.