Nigeria’s 20m out-of-school children recruitment centre for Boko Haram – Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has warned that the 20 million out-of-school children in Nigeria are future foot soldiers for Boko Haram terrorist sect.

Obasanjo spoke in Bauchi on Sunday during the commissioning ceremony of some selected projects executed by Bala Mohammed, governor of the state.

The former president said the growing number of out-of-school children represents 10 percent of Nigeria’s population.

He said human capacity building and education are important elements in the development of any nation.

“The World Bank says we have over 20 million children who should be in school that are not in school for a population of about 230 million; that is 10 percent of our population that should be in school that are not in school,” Obasanjo said.

“That is recruitment for future Boko Haram; nobody needs to tell us that. Apart from being that 10 percent of our population are not equipped to develop their innate ability and capacity to serve themselves, family, and community.

“We are also preparing them to be recruited in 10 to 15 years for whatever form of Boko Haram there will be at that time, whatever form of banditry it will be.”

In a report published on June 24, 2024, the World Bank said there are 11 million out-of-school children in Nigeria. The bank said the statistics were based on the national education data survey of 2020.

However, in a report released in September 2022, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) said there were 20 million out-of-school children in Nigeria.

The former president said God did not create Africa as a land of poverty, noting that its leaders have impoverished the continent.

“You can’t talk about developing human capacities when you don’t have what I call adequate health delivery service for your people,” he said.

“If you don’t want to talk about poverty alleviation, talk about wealth creation. I say to people that the world is fed up talking about poverty in Africa.

“God has not created Africa for a land of poverty. We made Africa a land of poverty, advertently or inadvertently, by our leaders in Africa, and of course, if it is a human action, putting it right must also be a human action.”