The Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has emphasised the need for the North to prioritize education. This statement comes in the wake of recent protests that resulted in the deaths of some protesters, looting of properties, and destruction of public assets.... CLICK TO READ THE FULL NEWS HERE▶▶
Speaking in an interview with Channels Television, Governor Sule pointed out that many of the protesters in the North were unaware of the purpose behind the demonstration.
He highlighted education as a key issue he intends to address during his administration. Gov Sule also commended the Almajiri system initiated by Goodluck Jonathan and urged traditional and religious leaders to engage in discussions with the government on how to promote education among the people.
He said, “During this last protest that happened in Lafia, the majority of those that came out on the streets were the Almajiris, some of them were 75, 11 years old, or 9 years old. A lot of them didn’t understand the meaning of the protests. When I spoke to them later, they didn’t even know what they were protesting against. From what has happened, I don’t believe anybody will continue to criticize actions that will be taken in order to move forward; otherwise, it will come as a time bomb and come to consume all of us.
One of the biggest problems we have in the North is education. On the day I came, I mentioned the idea of education, and it’s one that we are still pushing on. When people don’t have education and don’t have economic empowerment, these people will continue to behave the way these Almajiris were behaving during this protest. So, education must be taken seriously in the North.
We must be honest with ourselves, we must face one another and say that marrying more than one number of wives, having several children when you cannot take care of yourself is wrong. No religion promotes or allows that. You can have more than one if you can afford it. It is not because you’re a Muslim.
It is important for our traditional and religious leaders to be part of our meeting. The people are misusing the title of Almajiri. I am an Almajiri. Almajiri is just a student, a person searching for Islamic education.
The Jonathan government Almajiri system that they created is actually a wonderful idea, but it collapsed a long time ago. We don’t have to go back to it but we have to educate ourselves. China educated themselves and said you can have this number of children. Yes, they are not Muslims. There are more Muslims in India than any other country in the world, but they are following these Islamic teachings. They don’t do some of these things we are doing. In Saudi Arabia, the majority of the people have only one wife. We need to be educated by our religious leaders.
Our region is good for agriculture, everyone of us should go back to the field. If anyone is criticising, we have started. For me, the background is there. When I was the group managing director at Dangote, I managed Savannah Sugar Company in Numan. I managed the Tunga Sugar Company. I was the chairman of all the companies that are producing sugar in the country. So, I’m very familiar with agriculture. I love agriculture, and I have my personal farms. But today, in Nasarawa, we have 5,000 hectares, and we are going to do our first harvest at the end of October, early November. We are not just going to be talking; we have to show.”
Almajiris were the majority of those who protested in northern Nigeria. Most of them did not know the reason for the demonstrations, says Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule. #CTVTweets#PoliticsToday pic.twitter.com/ypGbKaJ2op
— Channels Television (@channelstv) August 8, 2024
