Surprisingly, the millions of out-of-school children from the Northern States have not melted the hearts of their so-called leaders who parade the corridors of power as though all that matters is a power grab!
Under the scorching sun, I increased my steps to cover the short distance to my destination. This is Garki, the heart of Abuja, the Federal Capital. As I hastened, something caught my attention. Under a palm tree along the sidewalk, by a derelict building, sat a not-too-old woman. She qualifies as an adult destitute though not physically disabled. A small child about the age of three played lazily by her side, merely seeing her elicits pity. The woman believed to be her mother, with her face drenched in sweat, looked on helplessly as one person after the other hurried past. They dare not engage her for obvious reasons. But the forlorn look on the face of the child was more troubling; My heart melted and I stopped abruptly! Her tender face communicated anguish and suppressed pain as she loitered around her filthy environment. Something like tears rolled down her pristine eyes as she stared at me. I reckoned she may not have eaten as of that moment. The sun was blazing and I imagined her to be my child.
With my heart disturbed, I bent down, held her hands lovingly, and gave her one of my brightest smiles. “Hey, toddler, common. I love you!’ She smiled back the way a child would do. The mother was to tell me her name was Halima. My heart, laden with emotions began to thump fast just as beads of sweat broke out from my forehead. Halima, like millions of others caught in this deadly menace, who would have become doctors, scientists, professors, and engineers shortly are here crammed in foul-smelling squalor; their future already decided by the irresponsible act of a few die-hard traditionalists bent on enforcing fading cultures; Am I being too sentimental? The answer is no; this is reality starring us in the face; children born under these debilitating circumstances turned destitute; much later embrace drugs, prostitution, crime, and inevitably full-fledged begging!
They soon begin to terrorize innocent citizens who try to make a living from lawful activities. They are the beggars who drag young vulnerable children, obstructing vehicular movements everywhere you find them; They are hit by various degrees of ailments and deformities arising from the carelessness of the same leaders more pronounced in the North. Children who ought to be in school and whose lives ought to have been better are willfully destroyed by deliberate personal ambition. These leaders not only fail to reform their educational system; they also fail to embrace an adequate healthcare system that would have injected life into these children. They also allow dependence on children for income and household activities to becloud their reasoning. Under no circumstance should any leader tolerate manipulation of the life of the innocent child either for political or social reasons. It is a shame that must prick our conscience.
Children like Halima should never be subjected to such treatment; they should either be yanked from the streets and provided with a decent life or be rehabilitated another way. If government cannot do it, there are thousands of parents willing to assist, but cannot because of some bogus laws or fear of child trafficking. Conscience! That is what it boils down to; we may have all lost it Leaders who grew up in the 80s and 90’s surprisingly are the ones perpetuating these dreadful acts. This article is prompted by the fact that I have consistently seen Halima and her mother in the same spot over the past 6 months. Some Council members would have waded in and rescued the toddler from destruction. If Council members can track down businessmen, petty traders, and street hawkers and force them to pay ‘tax’ they should equally be grounded to ‘rescue’ Halima. It is inconceivable God-fearing people would allow Halima to remain in that heart-rending situation. She and the millions of other vulnerable children should be saved now, Good a thing that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is stepping up his Renewed Hope Agenda.
Halima and her mates should fit into the program. Tinubu would easily win reelection in 2027, if he does that; he would be known as the savior of the real ‘leaders of tomorrow’ for Halima and those abandoned are the real leaders. Significantly, poverty has played a major role in Halima’s case. The other is sheer negligence. According to the United Agency report, the Northwest has 8,044 million out-of-school children followed by the North East with 5,064 million. The North Central has 2,115,800 while the South West, Tinubu’s region has 1,146,900. The South-South and South East have 431,000 and 240,000 respectively. In that same UNICEF report published in May 2024, the Fulani, Hausa, and Kanuri ethnic groups top the list of Out of School children in Nigeria, at 18.3 million, Nigeria tops the highest rate of drop-outs globally from school The same report records alarmingly a steady decline, meaning more children across all gender are dropping out of school due to crushing poverty, especially in the primary cadre rising from 0% to a disgraceful 5%.
According to the report, deliberate manipulation by concerned leaders is largely responsible. If those concerned could entrench a compulsory “free education” scheme, embark on Job Creation—not distribution of palliatives— “free” healthcare and massive awareness creation, children like Halima would have been “delivered” and evacuated to safety. However, the good news here is that we have a warrior in the mold of Nyesom Wike who is proven to be “Mr. Projects”; now is the time for him to also extend that as “father” of children, the downtrodden. I do not want to call them destitute because they live in slums, and shanties not befitting human beings; the important thing is that they are human beings. They have a right to live. Someone has got to start it. Though I have heard people say begging predates the Nigerian state, strong reforms in our Islamic educational system would do, or are they also suggesting that life should be static because our forefathers wore animal skin?
A simple preventable childhood disease vaccine, maybe Polio, by Immunization, would have also saved the situation. Many of these Northern leaders do not place a premium on the early immunization of children; somehow, that is left to Council chairmen who are adept at stealing available funds and marrying more wives. El-Rufai tried in his own time to eradicate this sad reminder of street beggars, but subsequent administrators shockingly turned a blind eye. As if I drifted off, I returned my mind to Halima. I didn’t know how long I stood there trying to be friendly with her. Immediately I dipped my hands in my pockets wiped out a One thousand naira note and handed the child; the mother thankfully received it and prayed for me. I calculated that if I cannot help her at this moment, let her not be hungry! It was only then I quietly I quietly disengaged and moved on. My plea to Northern leaders is that they should turn their attention to these handicapped children. They should go out and look for the Halima of this world; they need our help; only a living human being deserves help.
