•As pupils receive lessons in clusters
From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
Following the abduction of 137 students and pupils of Government Secondary School (GSS), and LEA Primary School, Kuriga community, Chikun Local Government, Kaduna State, on March 7, 2023, and their subsequent release by bandits on March 24, the two schools are now wearing a new look.
This is even as the students/pupils are receiving lessons in clusters through radio and UNICEF gadgets for educational development.
Chairman, Northern Christian Youth Professionals (NCYP), Isaac Abrak, who visited the area recently, told Daily Sun that Government Primary and Secondary School, Kuriga, had taken on a new look due to ongoing renovation approved by Governor Uba Sani.
Abrak noted that the school gates were being fixed to the newly erected perimeter fence; corrugated roofs have been replaced with new sheets; walls painted, and blackboards installed, among others.
He said while the schools are closed for renovation, classes are ongoing in the communities, powered by UNICEF, which has supplied radios, chairs and textbooks for learning.
“These classes commenced about five weeks ago, with each cluster taking 10 students, three different classes in a day (morning, afternoon and evening). This is replicated in 10 different locations in the whole of Kuriga community, “Abrak said.
He added: “I witnessed one of the sessions. I was moved by the passion displayed by pupils and teachers toward learning. I can say with a big voice that despite Boko Haram attacks on education, the schools have come back more resolute than when they were attacked.
“The agenda to take away education from the kids so as to indoctrinate them with bandits, violent extremists cannot work as our children now know better. The education sector in Nigeria, especially in the North, has fought a good war.
“We are now more susceptible to economic well-being. The economic sector should increase its resilience, especially in rural areas; let’s push more employment and efficient distribution of government palliatives, private sector’s employment programmes to the villages to improve their living conditions.
“This will reduce the recruitment level of the terrorists and making it easier for the security men to eradicate them.
“The forest guards/forest rapid response squad should recruit more of these villagers to help keep the fight against these criminals constantly and also take the fight to them more often than just reacting to their attacks.
“Nigeria will have to think about recalibrating our laws to give the right ammunitions to the forest guards and forest rapid response squad if that is what we need to end terrorism in our country,” the youth leader said.
The 137 students were kidnapped when the gunmen on motorcycles rode through LEA Primary School and Government Secondary School and took them away. The incident sparked outrage and condemnation from several quarters including the UN agencies.
But two weeks after the gunmen seized the schoolchildren, mostly between 8 and 15 years old, Governor Uba Sani said they had regained freedom. He awarded scholarships to them.
The governor also donated N10 million to the family of the late head teacher of Kuriga Junior Secondary School, Abubakar Isah, who died in the bandits’ den due to alleged health complications.