By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan
The Registrar/Chief Executive, Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) Professor Olusegun Ajiboye on Thursday, said that over 1,500 schools have been forced to close in North Eastern Nigeria as a result of terrorism and insurgency.
Prof Ajiboye who made this known while speaking at the NUT National Delegates Conference, disclosed that over 910 schools have either been damaged or destroyed through terrorism and insurgency.
According to the TRCN Registrar/ Chief Executive, 2, 295 teachers were killed in the North East part of Nigeria between 2009 and 2022, saying, the world is grappling “with terrorism which has dealt a serious blow on every facet of the economy including education”.
Prof Ajiboye emphasized that despite the insecurity challenge, TRCN will continue to champion the professionalism and welfare of Nigerian teachers and that Federal Government should review its security architecture to address the “deteriorating security situation because of its effect on education”
“Government should implement fully the safe schools declaration guidelines endorsed by Nigeria in 2015 and ratified by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019”, he said.
Speaking further, Professor Ajiboye lamented that over 600,000 have lost access to education adding that the “attacks on education create a ripple effect, setting in motion range of negative impacts such as loss of education, early marriage, early pregnancy, and stigma associated with sexual violence and children’s born from rape all of which can dramatically affect female students futures”.
Stressing that insurgency has reduced foreign investment by putting local economy on pressure, Prof Ajiboye said 1.2million people require emergency education in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe.
“The presence of armed forces in and near schools can make it a target of retaliatory attacks increasing the risk to children and teachers as well as the likelihood that education will be disrupted”
