Nigerian community expels Islamic cleric discouraging children enrollment in schools – Lawmaker

A community in Jigawa State has expelled a religious cleric for preaching against Western education and the enrollment of children in conventional schools, a lawmaker has said.

Ado Yakubu, a member of the Jigawa State House of Assembly representing the Gwaram constituency, said the incident happened in his community.

Mr Yakubu said the cleric was expelled by traditional leaders in the community working to address the problem of out-of-school children.

The lawmaker spoke with reporters on Thursday at the sidelines of an event organised by the Jigawa State Basic Education Board (SUBED) in collaboration with UNICEF in Dutse, the state capital. The event, supported by the European Union (EU), is part of a campaign to boost enrolment of children in school in the state.

Mr Yakubu said addressing the menace of out-of-school children requires a collaborative effort. As a lawmaker, he said he has introduced programmes and policies to identify the challenges. He lamented that some clerics were influencing local communities not to enrol their children in conventional schools.

“A cleric was influencing locals not to enrol their children on acquiring Western education, and we engaged him in discussion with the traditional leaders. We found that the cleric’s perspective on Western education was discouraging and misleading, and we decided to expel him because he was not a partner in progress and not an indigene of the town.

“Such kinds of obstacles are being witnessed in various areas, and we are working on them”, Mr Yakubu said without naming the cleric.

He said they have identified other challenges hindering the enrollment of children in schools.

“We have identified 43 villages with high burdens of out-of-school children (in Gwaram LGA), and we were able to trace some of the problems, which are inter-community rivalry stopping the children of community A from going to Community B for schooling.

“Others are protesting the lack of presence of schools in their community and they cannot go to nearby communities for schooling.

“Some parents will not allow their children to be enrolled under particular village heads due to personal grudges.

“Some pupils walk a long distance to get water for their households, which prevents them from going to school. We have provided a borehole for them for immediate solutions”, Mr Yakubu said.

He said the problem of out-of-school children was being addressed from the grassroots by sharing ideas and identifying and providing solutions to the problems.

“The nomadic community has been neglected for a long time, and we are currently engaging them and enrolling the children back in school,” the lawmaker said.

The SUBEB chairperson, Haruna Musa, a professor, said the state initiated other measures, such as engaging mothers’ associations, to reduce the number of out-of-school children and improve learning in the state.

The official said many mothers are monitoring the learning outcomes of their children, going from class to class to ensure that teachers are teaching.

However, he lamented some parents’ lackadaisical attitude toward their children, which is complicating the problems.

He said Governor Umar Namadi had shown commitment by engaging 3,233 permanent and pensionable teachers in the first year of his administration.

“We are currently engaging another 3,000 teachers. In the year 2025, we are engaging 5,000, which is our target. The teachers are being trained to meet the standards of the time”, Mr Musa said.

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The meeting aimed to see a reduction in the number of out-of-school children in Jigawa, said UNICEF’s education specialist, Muntaka Mohammed.

“Jigawa is number eight on the list of out-of-school children; however, gladly, the Jigawa State Government is investing huge resources to see that children enjoy their rights to education,” Mr Mohammed said.