The incessant abduction of students and pupils by bandits in the Northern part of Nigeria has begun to take toll on the girl-child education in that part of the country and the educational development of the North generally.
Bemoaning the dire consequences of unabated kidnapping of school children, the President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan, lamented that insurgency, banditry, and kidnapping were further impeding the growth of education in the north, thereby worsening the situation of education in the North.
According to Lawan, the frequent attacks on schools and kidnapping of students and teachers have combined to further worsen the poor educational status of the region.
Lawan noted that school children in the north were being deprived of schooling, particularly the female students, as a result of persistent abductions and kidnappings by armed bandits.
He however assured that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration would continue to do all in its powers, with the support of the National Assembly, to address the problem of the insecurity not only in the north but also nationwide.
Lawan who spoke at the First Solo Exhibition of Paintings and Photographs by Stephen Binos, noted that the problem of insecurity plaguing the country was a challenge that must be prioritized and tackled jointly by all tiers of government in order to solve the problem.
He said: “I want to assure everyone that this administration, the Muhammadu Buhari administration will continue to work hard to bring back security to this country.
“It is a challenge, but I believe that it is for all of us – federal, states and, of course, local government and all the communities and ethnic groups across the country.
“This is a situation that needs all hands on deck regardless of what you believe in. We all need to survive first before we achieve any excellence and I believe we can do so well.
“We can reverse the current trend of insecurity in our country. It is a very sad development that our education is suffering, especially with so much kidnapping of school children, particularly the girl child.”
“In northern Nigeria, education has always been a problem and it is making it worse with the abduction of students, either in Islamiya school or normal secondary school or even in tertiary institutions like it happened in Afaka in Kaduna State.
‘’I believe we should continue to fight this kind of insurgency, banditry for us to restore normalcy in our country for our country to make progress.”
Lawan also made a passionate case for the youths, asking the nation’s leaders and those saddled with responsibility of leadership to encourage youths to contribute to national development.
The President of the Senate who charged Nigerian youths to ensure the preservation of the country’s diverse cultural heritage through expressive means, however explained that doing so would in turn preserve its traditional values against extinction from the overwhelming external influence of technology.
Binos is the son of Senator Binos Dauda Yaroe who is representing Adamawa South in the Senate.
The artworks exhibited depict the culture of the people of Adamawa State.
Lawan said, “I have gone round to see the art exhibition, display of various artworks by Stephen Binos and I’m really very impressed by what I have seen and I want to congratulate the man of the moment, Stephen Binos, our artist.
“What this gentleman has done is to document history, document very important moment and these artworks will remain historical.
“Art is a language that everybody speaks and you can see from the attendance here. There are diverse people here. Some came from Europe, America and what have you and everybody understands his Language.
“The situation today, across the world really demands that we are able to document some of these very historical and very important artworks because technology, while it is a blessing to all of us, has its own way of undermining our culture.
“I believe in keeping to my culture because it doesn’t in anyway stop me from being modern and contemporary but it enriches my thinking, my orientation and my behaviour and attitude.’’
