‘Terrorists to blame for illiteracy’

Terrorist organisation Boko Haram continues to be the reason why parts of Nigeria remains illiterate as they are stopping access to education, the former president of Nigeria has said.

Speaking at the Global Education and Skills Forum in Dubai on Saturday, Olusegun Obasanjo said there is clear evidence that Boko Haram is to blame for the illiteracy rates in parts of Nigeria.

Boko Haram, which translates to ‘Western education is forbidden’, is a terrorist group that operates in Northeastern Nigeria and other parts of Africa, including Chad and Niger. They made worldwide headlines and brought on international campaigns, such as ‘Bring Back Our Girls’, after they kidnapped 276 Chibok schoolgirls in 2014. Most recently, they killed 23 Chad soldiers. They are terrorising these regions with a mission to “purify Islam”.

“There are still parts of Africa where education has not increased. In my country, for example, we have six geopolitical zones and the three southern ones has a literacy rate of more than 90 per cent. In the northeast, it’s only 53 per cent. So, imagine the gap,” he said.

“In the northeast, you have Boko Haram. When you look at education there and the menace of Boko Haram, education has something directly and indirectly to do with them. Education is very necessary in all other things — your employability, life expectancy and your management of your family. When your education is poor, your chances of employability is also poor.

“When you don’t have employment, your life becomes almost a waste because you can’t look after yourself. That’s where I say that popular education and education is all. There is no country in Africa today that should fail to give access to education. When you have education, you can live your life to the fullest.”

He said Nigeria currently has a population of about 200,000 people and that is set to double by the year 2050. “What do we do with that if we don’t educate them?” he added.