Nigeria: Let our children go back to school
A plea for government in northern Nigeria to re-think the sudden and unprecedented closure of schools during Ramadan has come from a bishop concerned for the hundreds of thousands of children affected.
Bishop Gerald Mamman Musa of Katsina said it came as “a complete surprise” when governors in his state as well as Kano, Kebbi and Bauchi announced that all schools – both private and public – would close for the month-long Islamic season of fasting and spiritual growth. Speaking to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the bishop said the decision affected up to 2,500 students across the eight Catholic schools in Katsina State where students, teachers and parents were shocked by the decision which is binding on all educational institutes.
The closure means that hundreds of thousands of students across all four states are now unexpectedly deprived of schooling in a region where poor education is driving unemployment and worsening poverty. Bishop Musa said: “The announcement to close the schools came as a complete surprise to us. It is unprecedented. We must understand that education and religious obligations are not strange bed fellows or mutually exclusive. They go hand in hand. The issue should be guided by logic, dialogue and wisdom.”
Recalling how as a child he and fellow youngsters of all faith backgrounds would attend school during Ramadan and other religious periods of fasting, he said it was “unprecedented” for education to be impacted during such seasons. The bishop’s comments follow a public letter from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) expressing “deep concern” about the schools’ closure.
The letter says the governors’ decision is tantamount to an assault on the right to education as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It goes on: “The closure of schools for an extended period undermines this right and jeopardises the education and future of millions of Nigerian children.”
Quoting United Nations’ reports that Nigeria has the world’s highest number of children not in school – more than 10 million in total – the letter states: “We are particularly concerned about the impact of this decision on the already alarming rate of out-of-school children.” The letter, signed by CBCN president Archbishop Lucius Ugorji of Owerri and the vice president, Archbishop Donatus Ogun of Uromi, goes on to say the schools’ closures “raises serious questions about the secular nature of our country and the rights of all citizens”.
The bishops wrote: “We urge the governors of the affected states to reconsider this decision and explore alternative arrangements that respect the rights and freedoms of all citizens.”
