The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi II, has attributed the low attention given to education in north Nigeria as reason for the poverty in the region.
Sanusi, a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, made this disclosure while delivering a paper entitled: “Youth, Security and National Development in Nigeria,” at the International Youth, Graduation and Annual Lecture of the Vocational Centre in Katsina, yesterday.
He noted that about one million children were roaming the streets of Kano as beggars unlike their peers in the western part of the country.
The royal father noted that Nigeria can achieve its human development goals when citizens have access to education.
He said, “There are less than 500,000 pupils in public primary schools in Lagos State and almost three million in Kano State with an estimated one million roaming the streets as beggars. This means that most parents in Lagos State sponsor their children.
“As many people as possible must be given access to education if we are to achieve our human development goals and reduce the security challenges we are facing. One of the easiest ways is to absorb the millions of Quranic School pupils into the formal system.”
He also urged government to invest more in agriculture as the highest employer of labour.
“There is urgent need to have clear policy towards this direction; we cannot afford half measures of intervention,” Sanusi said.
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