Assessment of Boko Haram Insurgents’ Threats to Educational Development in the Northeast Nigeria: The Way Forward
Publication Date: 14/02/2020
Author(s): Temitope Francis Abiodun (Ph.D), Opatoki Oluwatosin Omolayo, Adeyemo Damilola Tomisin, Obi Collins Chinedu.
Volume/Issue: Volume 3 , Issue 1 (2020)
Abstract:
One of the main obstacles to sustenance of stable educational system and policies in the Northeast, Nigeria is insurgent attacks on school activities in the region. The Boko Haram, whose name in Hausa, the dominant language in northern Nigeria, means “Western education is forbidden”, has targeted and killed teachers, education workers and students. The brutal insurgency has affected every strata of life in the region, particularly education. Educational activities in the region are exposed to threats and attacks as a result of lack intelligence gathering, government security forces’ use of schools for military purposes which places schools at risk of attack; failure on the part of government to adequately protect schools coupled with the in conducive learning environment the students are exposed to. However, high level of corruption and degree of “politics” in the activities of Nigerian Army constitute parts of the various factors leading to security risks bedeviling educational activities in the region. This study interrogates the threats posed by insurgent attacks on schools and learning activities in the Northeast Nigeria; and assesses the concerted efforts of the Nigerian government, private and religious organizations in combating the menace with a plan to proffer solutions to the disheartening phenomenon. The study concludes that, government security forces’ use of schools for military purposes which places schools at risk of attack; failure on the part of government to adequately protect schools; in conducive learning environment for students, insecurity, failure of government to provide basic necessities of life and corruption stand as a cog in the wheel to appreciable efforts at arresting the menace. It also submits that there is need for collaborative efforts of state and federal governments, Nigerian Army and Police Force and national assembly and state assemblies in the region to solve the problem.
