How Education Wins Over Boko Haram
While Boko Haram is losing, there is still a lot to be done to improve the numbers of children in school. Over 10 million children in Nigeria are denied access to school. About 90% of these children reside in the North, where they are exposed to many dangers including being recruited by Boko Haram.
August 14, 2014 by Philip Obaji Jr., 1 GAME Campaign
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7 minutes read
Credit: A World At School/Nick Cavanagh

This blog post is part of a youth series that we are running this week on the occasion of International Youth Day on August 12. The Global Partnership for Education is committed to working with youth as important members of our partnership.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013 is a day I will never forget. It was my second day in Gamboru, a village near Maiduguri, the Borno State capital in Nigeria’s northeastern region. I had arrived in Gamboru the previous day and was received by resident members of the 1 GAME Campaign, an organization I founded to create access to quality education for Nigeria’s vulnerable children. The purpose of my visit was to see firsthand some of our campaign’s work over the previous weeks since it began to reach out to out-of-school children and their families. I was also planning to meet with community leaders to find more efficient ways of encouraging parents to send their children to school.

An attack by Boko Haram militants

On this Wednesday, a group of Boko Haram militants stormed the compound asking for the “1 GAME boy”. By this time, almost everyone in the community had heard about the 1 GAME Campaign. More than 500 volunteers had been involved in our door-to-door campaign to encourage parents to send their children to school, 10,000 exercise books and pens had been distributed to school children, and many villagers had received 1 GAME shirts with the campaign’s slogan Education Defeats Violence written clearly on each of them. Obviously, I was the “1 GAME boy” Boko Haram was looking for.

But rather than telling them where I was, the villagers helped me escape by disguising me as a local Islamic teacher.  Their action showed that they are fed up with illiteracy and poverty and that they want a better future for their children which only education can provide. By protecting education, Gamboru residents had seen the beginning of Boko Haram’s defeat.

When more than 200 school girls were kidnapped in Chibok, the state of Nigeria’s union was strong. Thousands of people held rallies across the country calling for their release. The once silent local leaders in northern Nigeria suddenly found their voices. Then came the #BringBackOurGirls campaign on Twitter that gained global acclaim.

The international community stood with Nigeria, while Boko Haram stood alone. Clearly, the abductors were losing. Our solidarity marked another beginning to Boko Haram’s defeat.

So much to be done to educate all children in Nigeria…

But while Boko Haram is losing, there is still a lot to be done to improve the numbers of children in school. Over 10 million children in Nigeria are denied access to school. About 90% of these children reside in the North, where they are exposed to many dangers including being recruited by Boko Haram.

A vast majority of children living in northern Nigeria are Almajiris, a name given to Qur'anic students who mostly live away from their families under the custody of their teachers called Mallams. Unable to pay for proper education, most poor families send their young away to Mallams who provide religious instructions but are not responsible for the feeding of their students. Hence, Almajiris have to beg for food to sustain their lives. By the age of 14, the children are lost on a road to nowhere as they are amongst the largest pool of children without access to formal education in Nigeria.

…particularly in Nigeria’s northern regions

Northern Nigeria is home to Africa's largest concentration of poor and economically disadvantaged persons.

Overall, Nigeria is one of the countries with the largest number of out-of-school children in the world. Thankfully, the Nigerian government is now seeing the need to take more concrete action on getting every child into school. The policy makers in Abuja realize that to defeat Boko Haram, they must show courage by availing Almajiris the necessary tools to succeed and win in a democratic Nigeria -  only guaranteed through quality education.

Making education a priority is a good first step

At the Replenishment Conference of the Global Partnership for Education, held in Brussels in June, Nigeria pledged to continue to annually increase its investment in the education sector. The country has consistently increased its annual budgetary allocation to education since 2011, an increase of more than 100% since then.  The allocation to education has been between 9-10% of the annual budget.

Now that the Nigeria government is promising more action and previously reluctant communities in northern Nigeria are embracing education, the terrorist know they are standing alone. Clearly, education is winning and Boko Haram is losing.

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Comments

Awesome piece. Philip remains one of the bravest on planet. I wonder why the world doesn't celebrate him.A man who risks his life in a dangerous zone to lift others should be greatly recognized.

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