Atiku, Agada Proffer Solutions To InsecurityTHE Kaduna State Universal Basic Education Board has engaged 12 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in a N56m contract to revive its School based Management Committees (SBMC) and train 8,640 members in 480 primary schools in 10 Local Government Education Authorities (LGEAs).Mr. Ishaya Dary Akau, Executive Chairman of the Board, at the contract signing ceremony on August 9, 2012, said: 'The initiative will pave way for 8,640 members of the SBMCs from these 480 schools to be trained on their roles and responsibilities using the Education Sector Support Programme in Nigeria (ESSPIN) model, so that they can adequately represent, protect and serve as voice of their communities.Meanwhile as the 41-man committee, set up by the Northern States Governors' Forum, gets down to the job of curtailing insecurity in the region, former Minister of State for Education, Dr. Jerry Agada, says education is strategic to reining in activities of the Boko Haram sect.The sect, Jam''atu Ahlis Sunnah L'dda'awatih wal-Jihad, popularly called Boko Haram (translated: Western education is forbidden), seeks establishment of Sharia law in the country, and has claimed responsibility for several bloody attacks and bombings against civilian and military targets in the North.Former Vice PresidentAtiku Abubakar, on his part, has blamed activities of the Boko Haram sect on bad governance by past and present leaders of the country.Atiku, who spoke at the weekend in Yola during the commissioning of the American University of Nigeria (AUN) three-star hotel, said government has failed woefully in its constitutional duties at providing a hospitable environment for its citizens.He lamented that government has not used the country's resources in creating jobs for the youth and boosting sectors that could generate employment opportunities.'There are rising cases of poverty, populationexplosion, and there has been no deliberate attempt by government to address these. So, what is happening today is manifestation of bad governance in the country,' Atiku said.The Kaduna State UBEB initiative targets Giwa, Igabi, Jaba, Jema'a, Kaduna South, Kubau, Sabon Gari, Zangon Kataf, Lere and Ikara LGEAs.The Civil Society Organisations engaged by UBEB are: ABANTU for Development; GAWON Foundation; Life Line Education Development Centre; FANTSUAM Foundation; Hope for the Village Child, among others.ESSPIN has indicated interest to continue to support the CSOs and the Social Mobilisation Departments of SUBEB and LGEAs in providing better quality training to SBMCs.In an exclusive interview with The Guardian in Anambra State, last week, Agada said federal government's initiative at establishing basic education for all out-of-school children and Almajiris would reduce, to barest minimum, acts capable of disrupting the nation's security.He commended government's initiative at educating the Almajiris. According to the former minister: 'Inaugurating the Madrasah Education Committee on issues relating to Almajiris and setting up of the National Almajiri Education Implementation Committee (NAEIC) by the federal government is a welcome development. But it needs to be extended to the South-East and South-South also, where many children are becoming school drop-outs.'Agada, who lamented poor state of education in the country, called for 'total overhaul of the education sector for optimal performance and access to all,' adding: 'the quality of teachers, improvement of their conditions of service and rapid infrastructural development is needed to turn things for the better.'He, therefore, appealed to government, corporate bodies and well-meaning citizens to stem rot in the sector in order to boost national development.
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