The Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) should not be allowed to recruit 13.2 million out-of school children in Nigeria who could serve as breeding criminals for kidnapping and armed robbery. The insurgents are desperate to overrun the northeast and render the government weak to respond to their criminal tendencies that had kept that part of the country under their control. Since the merger with ISIS, Boko Haram has developed into a desperate monster, devouring its victims and inflicting pains on people and the government of Nigeria. The group has changed tactics from attacking mosques, markets, public buildings and barracks to abduction of defenceless people.
I implore the federal, state and local governments to work hard so that the 13.2 million out-of-school children are not recruited into Boko Haram, armed robbers or enlisted into kidnapping gangs. In the 21st century, we cannot afford to produce 13.2 million jihadists, kidnappers and armed robbers. Let us work hard to eliminate out-of-school children in our system.
The 69% of the out-of-school children in the north could be classified as “vulnerable” and exposed to the jihadists and threatened by various terror organizations. Majority of the children could be recruited into Boko Haram terror group. The situation is that an entire generation of children in the northeast is being robbed of their right to education, an essential ingredient for their future and for the development of the northeast region, which for years has lagged behind that of other parts of the country. Without urgent action to address the lack of access to education occasioned by the Boko Haram attacks, the lives of these children could become locked in unending cycles of underachievement and poverty. Boko Haram is also a kidnapping group today. It has kidnapped some of these out-of-school children and recruited them into the terror group.
For example, in Borno, one of the most affected states, schools at all levels were closed in 22 out of 27 local government areas for at least two years, and public secondary schools in the state capital, Maiduguri. They were only reopened in February 2016 after internally displaced people, or IDPs, who occupied most of the schools, were relocated elsewhere. Education might have ground to a complete standstill in even relatively safe Maiduguri if it were not for some private schools that remained open when state authorities shut down public schools in March 2014.
As schools become targets, children are living and working on the streets and the government isn’t doing much to protect them. The unceasing conflict in northeast has destroyed the institutions meant to protect children. “Nearly half of the children aged between 7 and 14 years old in northeast are missing out on school.”
Generations of children have paid the price in northeast that has not been at peace since 2010.There was widespread violence as a leading reason for children not attending school. Northeast remains in crisis between conflict and recovery, and despite millions of dollars being pumped into globally funded reconstruction efforts, protection for children – whether those attending school, working on streets or in factories, and others confined to their homes because of insecurity – remains precarious and their future prospects threadbare.
An official of the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) said 69 per cent of Nigeria’s out-of-school children are located in the northern part of the country.
Also according to the official, Bauchi State has the highest number with 1.1 million children followed by Katsina with 781,500.
UNICEF’s Deputy Representative in Nigeria, Pernille Ironside, made the announcement at a Northern Nigeria Traditional Leaders Conference on out-of-school children held in Kaduna.
Ms Pernille said a ministerial strategic plan states that Nigeria has 10.5 million children aged 6-14, out of school.
Nigerian official last week said a more recent survey in 2015 put the number at 13.2 million.
“When we speak of out-of-school children, who are they? It is too easy to keep them nameless and faceless. The latest MICS data tells us that 69 per cent of out-of-school children in Nigeria are in northern states,” Ms Pernille said.
“These children are in your communities, on your streets, in the households, in your council area. Other sources say the number of out-of-school children is higher. But the focus is not the precise number, the focus should be on boys and girls in your communities who lose out on education, lose out of livelihoods, and lose out on hope and the future they can have for themselves, their families, their communities and their country. Nigeria loses out on a literate and skilled workforce it needs to grow economically.
“Nigeria needs to take leap to bring more children into education and into learning. Partnerships and collective actions are essential.
Ms Pernille explained that in the Northeast and Northwest states, more than half of primary school aged girls are not in school.
“There are several reasons why these children are not in school. Gender is an important factor in the pattern of educational marginalisation.
“In the conference, we will not only discuss these barriers, we will focus on actions that need to be taken to reduce them. Many parents in northern Nigeria prefer Islamic education over formal education but they are not mutually exclusive.
“Children need both. They also have a right to learn to read and write, mathematics and develop the knowledge and skills that will enable them to be contributing citizens of Nigeria. One approach to address both needs is the integration of basic education subjects into Islamic centres, Quranic Islamiyya and Tsangaya to reach more children with basic education skills. Approximately 26 per cent of muslim children in northern Nigeria only attend Islamiic education,” she said.
The official also said UNICEF recognises the key role of traditional institutions in northern Nigeria to positively influence parents and ensure that children under their councils are literate. “UNICEF also recognises the leadership of Sultan of Sokoto for this conference and for his partnership with the Sultan Foundation for Peace and Development, FME, UBEC, as well as development partners in changing the story of children in their communities,” she added
The so-called Islamic State is collapsing. In Syria, Iraq and Libya, it is losing territory and they are using West Africa as their recruiting ground. Its ambitions of a global caliphate are unrealised. But perhaps this was predicted, even anticipated. First came the grooming, then the recruitment and training to create a new army of child jihadists, who might grow into adult militants. The Islamic State’s and Boko Haram are next generation of hate in West Africa.
As children are immersed in this public violence in northeast, they are also targeted by ISIS and Boko Haram members who lure them with various techniques. “Sometimes they make parties for children, so if you answer the right question they will give you a present or a mobile phone. They recruit a lot of young boys” this way mostly those that are out of school, ISIS and Boko Haram send some of its child recruits to military camps to train them in how to handle weapons and fight. Militants provide an incentive to poor families by offering to pay parents hundreds of dollars per month for each child they send, and some of the children Being Slaughtered Silently. ISIS calls these children, who have been featured in many ISIS propaganda releases, “Cubs of the Caliphate.”
Boko Haram and ISIS could target 13.2 million out of school children specifically, aiming to create a generation of loyal followers who are indoctrinated from an early age and therefore might be less likely to dissent. It’s an issue that worries experts like me. It is instilling very young children with Islamism, jihadism, and it’s something that’s going to stick around for a long, long time. Boko Haram and ISIS target children because it’s easier to recruit them than adult men.
- Donald writes from Benin City.
