John Shiklam in Kaduna
The Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Nomadic Education (NCNE), Prof. Bashir Usman, has called on the governors of the 36 states of the federation to provide adequate teachers and infrastructure for nomadic primary schools.
He made the call yesterday in Kaduna while declaring open a three-day workshop on skills acquisition and sustainable livelihoods for nomadic youths and women. Usman stressed that concerted efforts should be made to ensure that all out-of-school nomadic children totalling 3.5 million are enrolled in school.
He said as part of efforts by the NCNE to promote the delivery of relevant and functional skills, education, and services to the various nomadic communities across the country, the commission conducted a participatory needs assessment and identification of trainees for skills acquisition training.
According to him, the training will focus on livestock and dairy development, fashion design, and hairdressing.
The professor said six states in the six geo-political zones namely: Anambra, Delta, FCT, Katsina, Osun and Yobe were beneficiaries of the training.
Usman said: “The commission’s initiative of empowering the youths and women through vocational education and value orientation can go a long way in reducing poverty in many rural communities, restiveness, social vices such as cattle rustling, kidnapping, raping, rural banditry, piracy and incessant conflicts leading to wanton destruction of lives and property.
“When youths and women learn new vocational education and values, they can use the orientations learned to feed, send their children to school, assist others with employment and even invest for the future.
“The vocational orientations one learnt can assist him till the end of his life. Youths and women who are empowered with improved animal husbandry skills can earn from it sustainably till he/she dies.
“The various skills provided in this all-important training workshop can provide the trainees with artistic, manipulative, life-coping, lifelong communicative empowerment skills, intellectual empowerment skills as well as problem-solving skills.”
He commended the Kaduna State Government for supporting the Nomadic Education Programme (NEP) over the years, and appealed to “other states in the country to provide adequate teachers and infrastructure for Nomadic primary schools as well as the training of Nomadic youths in their programmes.”
