Northern Governors Push for Educational Reform and Social Change
Northern governors are intensifying their efforts to tackle the escalating educational and social issues in their regions. Their latest initiative calls for legislation to abolish the almajiri system and end child marriage throughout the country.
This initiative was unveiled during the Northern Nigeria Human Capital Development Summit held in Abuja. The event brought together political leaders, traditional rulers, and development stakeholders to devise strategies aimed at improving the region’s troubling human development indicators.
The chairman of the Northern Nigeria Governors Forum (NNGF), represented by Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule, emphasized the need for Northern leaders to confront practices that contribute to poverty, insecurity, and educational deprivation. The summit was co-hosted by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation and the NNGF.
Sule announced that the forum is actively engaging governors, traditional authorities, and federal officials to initiate the necessary legislation in the National Assembly to abolish the almajiri system nationwide. He advocates for a collaborative approach, urging various stakeholders to join forces and present a comprehensive bill to end this practice across Nigeria.
The governor reflected on past efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting initiatives aimed at repatriating almajiri children to their home states. He recalled mobilizing buses to transport over 200,000 almajiri children from Nasarawa State alone back to their provinces.
Sule pointed to the stark educational crisis in the region, noting that Nasarawa currently has about 413,000 out-of-school children. He lamented that Northern Nigeria is home to approximately 15 million of Nigeria’s estimated 18 million out-of-school children, labeling this figure a severe concern.
Highlighting the importance of accessible education, he argued that children seeking Quranic education could be accommodated within their families while receiving formal education. Beyond addressing the almajiri system, Sule also called for significant action against child marriage, dismissing attempts to rationalize the practice based on religious traditions.
In his remarks, Ezekiel Gomos, Executive Director of the Northern Nigeria Governors Forum, unveiled a series of proposals designed to enhance human capital development throughout the region. He outlined commitments to increase enrollment and retention in schools, empower women and girls, bolster healthcare systems, provide young people with employable skills, and enhance governance and accountability.
Abubakar Umaru Gambo, Executive Director of the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, expressed the urgency of addressing persisting issues of educational disparity, low literacy rates—especially among girls—widespread poverty, and dire health conditions. He cautioned that neglecting these challenges risks exacerbating insecurity, unemployment, and socio-economic inequalities.
Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Hassan Hadezia, spoke on behalf of Vice President Kassim Shettima, emphasizing that Northern Nigeria has long suffered from insufficient investment in human capital. He quoted the Vice President’s assertion that no region has borne a greater toll from this deficiency than Northern Nigeria, urging governors to prioritize improvements in education, healthcare, and skill development within their states.
At the conclusion of the summit, participants adopted a framework aligned with the federal government’s Human Capital Development 2.0 strategy, which prioritizes health, education, livelihoods, and skills acquisition. This framework aims to strengthen collaboration among governments, traditional institutions, civil society organizations, and development partners to foster sustainable development in the region.
The almajiri system, rooted in Northern Nigeria for centuries, traditionally requires children to leave their homes to study with Islamic scholars. However, concerns have been mounting regarding its evolution in some areas, where it increasingly subjects children to street begging, exploitation, and exclusion from formal education. Northern Nigeria continues to grapple with the highest rates of out-of-school children and child marriage nationwide, issues deeply intertwined with poverty, inadequate healthcare, low educational attainment, and escalating insecurity.
