An international Security Analyst and a Human rights Lawyer, Barr. Audu Bulama Bukarti has raised strong concerns over the continuous closure of boarding schools across Northern Nigeria, warning that the trend poses a grave threat to the country’s future.
Speaking in a SolaceBase exclusive interview, Bukarti described the practice of shutting down schools in response to insecurity as “not the way out” of the crisis.
SolaceBase had reported that Kebbi, Niger, Plateau, Bauchi, Katsina, and Yobe have all closed schools over rising insecurity and abduction.
Also, the federal government has closed 41 unity schools recent abduction of school children
According to him, the closures have already forced millions of children out of classrooms, disrupting their educational progress and placing the future of northern Nigeria in jeopardy.
“Every single day of a child missing school is seriously damaging the child’s education and their future,” he said. “If their future is damaged, the future of Nigeria is equally damaged.”
Bukarti explained that the implications extend beyond academics. He noted that girls risk being married off prematurely, while boys are often pushed into menial jobs, making it less likely for them to return to school.
He warned that terrorists have effectively declared “a war on education” by targeting schools, as seen in 13 mass abductions over the past 11 years in which more than 2,000 children were kidnapped.
Read Also: Nigeria bleeds again as Kidnappings force children out of school – Firdausi Abubakar
“In any movie script, if someone writes that 300 schoolchildren were abducted and disappeared into thin air, the writer would be called stupid,” he said. “But that is happening in Nigeria.”
Bukarti insisted that the government’s failure to disrupt terrorist financing, stop the flow of arms and drugs, and enforce consequences for criminality has allowed insecurity to thrive.
He stressed that school closures only send the wrong signal to terrorists. “We are telling them, ‘You have overpowered us, and we will now change our way of life to suit you,’” he said.
He urged the Federal Government to improve rapid response systems, dismantle financial networks of criminals, and declare an emergency on securing the nation’s porous borders.
According to him, unless decisive action is taken, education, a key pillar of development, will remain under siege.
Comments are closed.