18th July, 2015
Jethro Ibileke/Benin
Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo has said that effective educational system remains the most potent panacea to the scourge of the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram.
Obasanjo who spoke Friday in Benin, capital of Edo state, at the 11th Convocation Lecture of the Benson Idahosa University (BIU), on the topic; “Effective Educational System: A panacea for Societal Development and Transformation,” said based on a survey of education across the six geo-political zones of the country in 2010, it was evident that Boko Haram was a menace waiting to happen.
He said for the war on Boko Haram to be won irrespective of the military onslaught, there was need for education to be used as a tool just as he carpeted religious leaders who had abandoned preaching tolerance ad peace to violence and extremism
“If we are able to tackle Boko Haram with education in our schools, both in the social media that they use, we will dilute their messages and positively win their hearts and others who have been swayed by the Jihadists messages.
“To succeed with counter messages, we need to be more appealing and truthful and as intense as those of Boko Haram if not more. The capacity of all teachers should be strengthened to deliver such messages. Morning and afternoon assemblies of our primary and secondary schools should have a strong dose of such messages. Our airwaves and social media should also be saturated with such positive messages. Even if we defeat Boko Haram on the battle front, we need education to sustain the victory.
“Let me give you an insight. In 2010 there was a survey of education in Nigeria and among the six geo-political zones; in the south west, it was 79 percent that are educated, in the south east, it is about 78 percent in the north east, where Boko Haram dominates, it is 19 percent and that is one of the reasons people believe that Boko Haram was a menace waiting to happen.
“We have to reverse that trend, maybe the situation has even gone worse in the last five years because people have moved out of school, some schools have been destroyed and we cannot fold our arms and say it is up to the north east, it is up to all of us in Nigeria, we have to do what should be done to bring parity in the area of education across the length and breadth of the country,” Obasanjo said.
He therefore urged President Buhari to tackle the war against Boko Haram from the angle of morale education, saying, “Education is a moral enterprise which we need to re-engage.
Speaking on the impact of social media in the country, the ex President condemned what he called the negative effect of social media on students, pupils and even parents and teachers who he said are fast losing the moral grip of their wards.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Vice Chancellor of Benson Idahosa University, Professor Ernest Izevbigie, announced that 871 students would graduate from the university, out of which 86 were post graduate graduands and 785 first degree graduates.