It was the first Nigeria Army Chief of Staff and Former Military Governor of the defunct Northern Region, late General Hassan Usman Katsina (Ciroman Katsina), that described in the social menace of begging and destitution in the North as a Hausan-Fulani community problem. He said this during a media chart on an NTA network program in February 1992. Exactly 32 years ago.
In his frank characteristic, the late Ciroman Kastina (of blessed memory) attributed the unfortunate situation to the failure of “the current leaders of the North including myself”, and that “only we the northern leaders can find a lasting solution to the problem”.
This statement will not come as a surprise to those who were familiar with the frankness and truthfulness of the late General.
He then called on the Northern leadership to work in unison, towards improving the condition of living in the region, through the provision of formal education and social amenities to the people, so that the menacing culture of begging on the streets of the North will be considerably minimized or completely eradicated. He further warned that if the situation is left unchecked, it may snowball into a major problem, with dire consequences to the peace and stability of the entire nation. Many will agree that the late General predicted the security situation of today over three decades ago.
However, before that remarkable statement was made by the late General Hassan Katsina on the degradable culture of begging in the North, Professor Jubril Aminu, as Nigeria’s Minister of Education in 1989, had introduced the concept of Nomadic Education into the nation’s educational system.
Many at that time, did not understand the passion with which Prof. Jubril Aminu wanted to take formal education to the nomadic Fulanis in the forests. With the benefit of hindsight today, one can sadly attest to the fact that the worries and warnings of both late General Hassan Katsina and Professor Jubril Aminu have been justified. This is in view of the criminal recruitment in droves, of uneducated northern children begging on the streets, and the illiterate nomadic Fulanis in the forests, into the army of Kidnapers, Bandits, and Terrorists that are currently unleashing mayhem on Nigerians.
It will not be considered an exaggeration to say that the absence of formal education and lack of social amenities for vulnerable children that are begging on the streets, combined with the deliberate isolation of the nomadic Fulanis from general socio political economic activities by government, have both contributed immensely to the frightening spate of insecurity in the North.
When on Tuesday the 30th January 2024, a group of policy analysts in Abuja known as the Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI), identified the recently established Pulaaku Initiative as the long awaited Non- Kinetic solution that can drastically reduce the susceptibility of vulnerable children and the nomadic fulanis, to the heinous crimes of kidnaping, banditry, and terrorism in the North, there was a sigh of relief among many opinion leaders across the nation.
The personal commitment and political will with which President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, approved the establishment of the Pulaaku Initiative can be seen in the rapid release the sum of 50 Billion Naira operational fund for its immediate take off.
However, as good and thoughtful as the initiative appears, the challenge still remains that the intended beneficiaries of the new program need to be effectively mobilized and carried along in its implementation. This is absolutely a challenge to the Northern establishment…
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