Re: An open letter to the Federal Minister of Education

and the involvement of all the five existing universities in Nigeria, embarked on the ambitious project of introducing Universal Primary Education beginning 1st January 1976 that would ensure education of every Nigerian child born after the official end of the Nigerian Civil War in January 1970.

I have gone over the history of the education crisis from 1971 when I became involved to today in order for us to understand where we are coming from.

The figures in the Open Letter to Adamu Adamu have similarities to the situation I found in 1971. I do not know what level of studies these awards were. But the distribution is somewhat similar, suggesting that the situation now remains somewhat the same to that of 1971.

We need to relate these figures to what we know to be the education crisis in Nigeria today. In about 2012, former President Goodluck Jonathan lamented that there were 10 million out of school children in Nigeria. Obviously meaning that these out of school children are in Northern Nigeria. He set out to build Almajiri Schools in the belief that that would address the situation.

His successor, President Muhammadu Buhari has been quoted as saying that the figure of out of school children in the country is now 12 million, meaning the figure has grown and is likely to continue to grow.

I know that from 1973, funds for the preparation for the UPE were being paid to every state in the country not only for building the schools that would be needed but the expansion of teacher training facilities and the provision of teaching materials.

After the elections that brought President Obasanjo, the Universal Basic Education was introduced and money was being transferred to every state of the federation. It is now 20 years since the introduction of the UBE Programme and that much money has been expanded.

We must ask the question, where are those millions of out of school children to be found? Obviously in Northern Nigeria! We have been spending money in the belief that we are providing education for every one of the children we bear for 50 years without making progress.

Who is to account for what has been happening and is continuing to happen?

Surely the fault lies with us. And by us I mean us in Northern Nigeria. Both the leaders and the led.

Ahmed Joda, an elder statesman and former Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Education, writes from Yola