IN FOCUS: EDUCATION IN NORTHERN NIGERIA
In Northern Nigeria, there is an educational crisis that lingers on. Educational performance in the region continues to remain poorer than its Southern counterpart. In the national examination for secondary students, WASSCE, of the eighteen lowest performing states, fifteen are from the northern region. The universities fare no better. In the annual list of top performing schools released by the NUC, only five northern universities feature in the top fifty schools.
Asides statistics on performance, there’s a major issue on enrollment. The region accounts for about fifty percent of the population and yet, it accounts for over seventy percent of the 13.2 million out of school children in the country. While basic education remains free in the region, there aren’t many northerners trooping to schools as the statistic above shows.
A good anecdote of the disinterest in schools is the national common entrance application. Schoolkids are required to take this application to qualify for public secondary schools. In Zamfara state, only 28 students applied for the exam. To take into context, the state has a population of over 3.2 million. Other northern states follow suit with dismal applicant numbers, with Kebbi receiving 50 applicants.
This values have shown in the literacy level of the region. In the national literacy survey done by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), states with the lowest literacy levels have been from the North. Most northern states, with the exception of Taraba, Plateau and Nassarawa, have lower than 50% literacy rate, compared with the southern regions where no state had a literacy rate below 70%.
There are multiple reasons why this figures, should ring alarm bells. An adage from the Yoruba tribe says “A wise man among fools, becomes a fool himself”. The proverb is said to show how one becomes a reflection of their society, and just how Nigeria could be a reflection of the region. Half of all elected posts in the legislative, judiciary and executive arms of government would come from the north. They’ll be our policymakers, our civil servants, our judges, our law enforcers and even administrate our resources. If the average individual from the society is uneducated, what are the chances that the individuals making decisions concerning the average Nigerian would be educated?
Asides the threat to the immediate future, there’s also the matter of opportunities missed due to an uneducated Northern region. An educated northern region, would have led to the possibilities of innovative startups which would have driven economic activity, creating jobs and reducing poverty. It could have led to the possibilities of Nigeria attracting more foreign direct investment as multinationals scale their operations to extend to both southern and northern regions. It could have led to real progress in a region with high poverty rates.
DISINTEREST, KEY REASON FOR STAGNATING EDUCATIONAL SECTOR
The federal government and other non-governmental organizations are full aware of this problem and have made massive investments into the region. In the last ten years, the federal government has made accessible ₦12 trillion to the region. Other NGO’s have made notable investments, the global partnership for education made a grant of $100 million to five states in the north. The US government in March last year made accessible a grant of $117 million to two northern states.
Despite receiving more funding than their Southern counterparts, the Northern education sector is still worse off. Mismanagement of resources, government ineptitude are common causes associated to this deficiency. However, elections held and community meetings showcase a more telling reason. Education is not a priority. Educational facilities or a lack thereof, has never been a major issue in deciding elections or community matters. There has been a disinterest on all parties regarding education.
This disinterest can be traced to the British empire, which made active policies to educationally disenfranchise the north. This was done by instituting policies which removed a thriving environment for education, and provided few institutions offering such education.
The Indirect rule of the British government rewarded nobility over education. Admission into the native authority was restricted to those of royal background and ignored the educated class. This invalidated the need for education among northerners. The reverse occurred in the South, with education being a requirement to work with colonial government, creating a demand for education, as it was viewed as an advantage for the commoners in the South.
There was also a wide gap in the institutions available in the southern and northern governments. As at 1959, there was only one college in the North, Barewa college, which offered the Higher School Certificate (HSC), while there were twenty schools in Southern Nigeria. Even the number of elementary schools showcases the divide. At independence, there were 9000 elementary schools catering to 1.2 million children in Southern Nigeria, while there were just 2,000 elementary schools which catered to just 200,000 children.
SMALLER NGO’s OFFER FLASHES OF SUCCESS IN NORTHERN REGIONS
Offering standard educational facilities are a major requirement for any successful educational policy. In Northern Nigeria, this has to be paired up with sensitizing parents and wards on the rewards of education. That’s why smaller non-governmental organizations seem to have more success in the region than other larger organizations.
The few Nigerian non-governmental organizations providing educational services operating in the region, show success in the regions they operate in. Readows foundation operates in Maiduguri, training primary students to qualify for secondary schools. In a region where insecurity has led to discontinued educational services and low enrollment ratios, their operated learning center remains oversubscribed. Teach for Nigeria has partnered with primary schools in Kaduna, and are providing educated graduates to such schools to teach kids various subjects.
Both organizations have made use of highly dedicated staff in the region to teach and sensitize parents in the region to bring out their wards for schooling. Readows as an example, has made adjustments to school timetables in order to encourage enrollment.
Their budget sizes have kept them both restricted to the local governments they play in. Given more funds, there’s the possibility that their operations could scale up and assist in tackling the problems they aim to solve.
As with many things in the country, governmental action has not been enough. To assist the children, it’s not as easy as giving money to beggars who come knocking. It could involve actions such as rolling up one’s sleeves and directing efforts to quell this gap. It might also involve giving out to causes who can scale their operations up, be effective and assist in reducing the educational inequality in the country.
At one point, Nigeria had as a president, a man who grew up poor, so much so he couldn’t afford shoes or a bag. He points to his education as providing opportunities that made him the number one citizen. There are not as many stories of such radical transformations, but education does provide an increasingly large opportunity to break the shackles of poverty.
There are many things you can do, why not assist in the effort to provide the next generation in the north an opportunity to have a better life?
