Zamfara state, in the nearest past, was in the news for the wrong reason. It is however now poised to recover its lost glory among the comity of other states as the state government is set to give education a priority. SANUSI MOHAMMED writes on this.
Results of studies conducted over the years in Nigeria have consistently indicated that the North-west region year in and year out posts dismal performances in both the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) and National Examination Council (NECO) examinations.
This obviously informs why the region lags behind in the registration of candidates for the University Matriculation Examination (UME).
In as much as one tries to rationalise this embarrassing situation under the guise of any excuse, it is however difficult to accept the stark reality of why only between 10 to 20 percent registration for JAMB at any given year, and sometimes less, in a state of between two to three million population and school enrollment figure of, at least, 300,000 falls below this much.
The question that goes on the mind of everyone is the issue of what could have been responsible for this dismal educational development in the zone.
Blueprint investigation reveals the postulation of experts that say it has more to do with policy approaches, funding, infrastructural development as well as traditional and religious factors, among others.
While the three, namely education policies, funding and schools infrastructure are at the domain of state governments, cultural and religious factors can be placed squarely on parents who harbour ill-informed notions that western education is a taboo, especially from the maxim of the Boko Haram elements that have nearly crippled educational growth in most northern parts of the country.
This widely held view especially among the rural populace has refused to abate despite enlightenment programmes embarked upon by respective governments in the region.
The hidden truth, however, is that the religious factors as held by the rural folks is oftentimes a smokescreen to hide the excruciating poverty level they are forced to live under.
This sordid state of affairs and poor education standards across the zone has contributed immensely to the menace of banditry and other crimes all over. No wonder, in the words of experts, the level of poverty-driven banditry is on the increase in the zone.
The elites, in particular, also have a share in how bad things have become especially in Zamfara. Unfortunately, they have offered little or no interventions aimed at overcoming this ugly trend in the state. Where, however, they did, past administrations have paid near zero considerations to their wise counsels or ignored them entirely until the present administration came on board.
In another breath, the elite cannot escape blame. They are known to resort to self-help at the detriment of the larger society. In many instances, they don’t enroll their children into public schools, but send them abroad for studies because they can afford it at the detriment of the tax payers.
This translates into high-paying jobs openly reserved to their foreign-trained children who occupy choice positions. According to the director general press affairs to the governor, Alhaji Yusuf Idris, “Little wonder, the poorly-educated sons and daughters of the poor resort to violence in a vicious class struggle that is consuming the state and the country at large in sectarian violence, insurgency, militancy and rural banditry.”
Enough is enough
Bearing all of these in mind, Dr Bello Mohammed Matawalle, the executive governor of Zamfara state who was sworn in in May 2019 has therefore declared that he has had enough, saying that things must change in his state.
During the week-long 100 day celebrations in Gusau, the governor announced that his administration’s mission would now be on how to prioritise the educational development of the state.
According to him, “For us, our mission in governance is to promote the social and economic well-being of our people. In the area of education, arrangements have already been concluded to sponsor 200 indigenes of the state to China, Cyprus and Sudan to study Medicine and Engineering.”
He disclosed during the event that he had been in talks with the Russian ambassador to Nigeria in that regard where an agreement, he said, was reached where the Russian Federation would offer scholarships to the state indigenes to study various courses in that country.
“That’s not all; similarly, we are committed to ensuring a conducive atmosphere for teaching and learning in our secondary schools. In this regard, very soon we would start total renovation of secondary schools namely Sambo Secondary School in Gusau, Government Secondary School in Kaura Namoda, Government Secondary Schoolin Bukkuyum, Government Secondary School in Tsafe and Government Science Secondary School in Shinkafi,” he said.
These schools, according to him, are first among equals that would enjoy government total attention to avert deterioration of the social and moral fabric currently pervading the zone.
He promised further that his government would renovate and provide standard infrastructure to all schools belonging to the state government. According to him, improper funding of the sector hitherto common in the past would soon become history in a short while to come.
According to Idris, “This is the land of Usmanu Danfodiyo and Muhammadu Bello, his son, whose mission under the flag of the caliphate had been to impart knowledge. Their sojourn has indeed left an indelible mark all over the horizon. How it withered with time is what Matawalle is promising to reverse and citizens of the state must be educated. This is a promise.”
