*Says zone has highest poverty rate, school dropout
*Identifies education as panacea to insecurity
Deji Elumoye
Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai yesterday painted a gloomy picture of the nation’s north-west geo-political zone, saying the region currently has human development indices that are closer to that of the troubled Asian nation, Afghanistan.
He also stressed that the zone has the highest number of out of school children and poverty rates in Nigeria.
El-rufai, who bared his mind at the Human Capital Development Communication Strategy meeting organised by the National Economic Council headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, said only a huge investment in the education sector by the nation’s political leadership would avert the Afghanistan scenario and stave off the worsening security situation especially in the Northern part of the country.
He warned that if education was not put on the front burner by the political leaders, the scenario would not augur well in the region and eventually become worse than the development in Afghanistan.
According to him, the north-west zone is currently in crisis, saying the population of the zone which is the highest in the country was a blessing as well as a curse.
He emphasised that the population of the region would be a blessing if kept healthy with educated children that have skills for the future. But on the other hand, it would be a curse if the children are not educated, they are not healthy and they feel hopeless.
The governor particularly stressed the need for the nation’s political leadership to chart the way forward through a robust investment strategy in education to address the menace of banditry, terrorism, and kidnapping, among other social ills prevailing in the northern part of the country.
El-Rufai said: “I represent the north-west zone in Human Capital Development Council. And as you know our part of the country is afflicted with the highest numbers of out of school children.
Some of the highest poverty rates and some of the highest drop-out rates in our schools.
“As if that is not enough, many of our schools are now closed due to the insecurity around our boarding schools. In most of the states of the northwest, schools have been closed for a while, while security operations are taking place making our educational situation even worse.
“Our health statistics are not better. When you disaggregate the national data into zones and regions, it is clear that most of Southern Nigeria have statistics that are middle income country nature while most of the Northwest have human development indices that are closer to those of the Afghanistan. Our region is in crisis.”
He added: “This is why you will notice that only the north-west has the highest representation of governors or Deputy Governors here. My elder brother, the deputy governor of Katsina state is here. Because this subject is very important to us. It is what keeps us awake at night.
“We have the largest population of any geopolitical zone in the country. That is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing if we keep the population healthy and educate the children and give them skills for the future. Because, if they’re not educated, they’re not healthy and they feel hopeless.
“This is what we’re seeing with our insecurity. Most of the bandits we arrest have never gone to school. They have no notion of religion, whether Christianity or Islam, and they have no hope.
If we don’t invest in education, health care, nutrition, our situation will just get worse.”
While focusing on the need for political leaders in the country to always do the right thing while providing governance, Kaduna state governor, however, commended the Vice President for providing the will as well as being in the forefront to facilitate attention needed to address the challenge.
He said, “Because it’s all about political will, ladies and gentlemen. We’ve spoken here there’s a clear strategy, all talk about implementation. If we all agree that human capital is so important, why are we so backwards?”
El-rufai wondered why state governments have failed to vote substantial percentage of their budgets to fund the education sector which has capacity to bring about the needed development in the long run.
His words: “Why are state governments not budgeting at least 25 per cent, 26 per cent for education and for health care, as recommended by you the United Nations (UN) agencies?
“And when these monies are budgeted why are they not spent in the right available, that politicians have a four year election cycle. But it takes 30 years for the result of investment in education to show. But building roads, building secretatiats are clearly evident.
“Politicians tend to ignore education and healthcare….the results show long after you leave office. In my humble opinion, the most important target of this message is our political leaders. The strategy is clear, the communication can be improved. We can work on the demand side of human capital development services, we can work on the supply side, but until and unless our political leaders realise the imperative of taking very difficult decisions for today, so that generations will benefit.
“I want to call on all of us to continue this conversation and continue to put pressure not just on the demand and supply sides of human capital health education, nutrition and so on. But on the political leaders that ultimately make the decisions, on budgeting, on spending, and on getting results”.
Osinbajo who was represented at the event by his Chief of Staff, Dr. Ade Ipaye, said the l objectives of Tuesday’s meeting was to ensure that stakeholders have a shared understanding of the Human Capital Development (HCD) programme objectives and its importance to Nigerians, among others.
