Bandits Must be Defeated for Proper School Continuity, Says Northern Governors’ Wives

Kuni Tyessi in Abuja

The wives of the 19 Northern State Governors have said that bandits must be defeated for children to feel safe going to school and to also engage in national developmental initiatives.

Chairperson of the Northern State Governors Forum and First Lady of Kaduna State, Mrs. Hadiza El-Rufai made this remark in Abuja yesterday.

She noted that the wives of the governors “are determined to collaborate with the federal government to combat gender based violence and drug abuse.

“Closure of schools is a short term plan to tackle the kidnapping of school children. But the security agencies must do all it can to defeat the bandits for all children to return to schools in the long run,” el-Rufai said.

She, therefore, rolled out the activities of the forum in 2021 and for 2022, noting that banditry “is one of the issues security agencies must tackle to enable them achieve their objectives.

“We are concerned about the kidnapping of school children. The short-term plan is about closing down the schools as Kaduna and Zamfara states have done.

“You do not put the children in danger by taking them to school. The bandits must be defeated at all cost. We cannot continue like this. We must defeat the bandits for children to go to school. The short term, you must shut down the schools.”

Also, the vice chairperson of the forum and First Lady of Kwara State, Olufolake AbdulRazaq said they would ensure the sustainability of the programme even beyond 2023.

The Special Assistant to the President on social investment in the Office of the Vice President, Mrs. Mariam Uwais earlier briefed the governor’s wives on what the federal government had been doing on empowerment of women, young girls and school children.

The special assistant added that the wives of the governors would get the data of out of school children and address their health concerns.

She added that the states “have the constitutional mandate to bring the children to share a framework for digital skills, agriculture and other empowerment programmes.

“We are collaborating with the wives of the governors and other stakeholders to select 50 young educated but not employed youths in every local government so as to empower them to mentor the children and guide those that are out of school to return to the school and remain in schools.

“50 youths will be selected in every local government. They will be paid N30, 000 which is the minimum wage. This will create capacity and create jobs for them,” the presidential assistant noted.