The decade long insurgency by the Boko Haram in the north east part of Nigeria has wrecked havoc many lives including families, societies and communities as well as affected a wide spectrum of social and economic sphere. The Boko Haram has transformed into a transnational threat, thereby creating more concern for the international community.
Boko Haram currently operates throughout the Republic of Niger, Chad, and Cameroon. The group has carried out series of coordinated attacks against citizens, government officials, military forces, and foreigners in order to create fear, gain popularity, or inspire other Islamic extremist groups and individuals.
It resultant effect is leaving behind tales of woes for peoples displaced from their ancestral homes to Internally Displace Persons (IDPs) camps across Borno State and Nigeria.
Between 2009 and 2016, the activity of boko-haram members have led to the death of over 600 teachers, destruction of 900 schools and also forced shutdown of about 1500 schools as the activity of the insurgency constantly threatened the safety of both lives of students and teachers. Parents are forced to choose between the life of their wards and education.
It was part of finding succour for people affected by the insurgency in the North east and others that the managers of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Uhogua, near Benin in South West Nigeria prioritised the provision of education to these IDPs in the camp.
The camp, which is run by the Home for the Needy Foundation, has Pastor Solomon Folorunsho as the Coordinator. It has a population of more than 4,000 IDPs with majority of them from Borno state.
He said the foundation devised a number of measures to ensure that criminals and peeople of questionable character are not admitted into the camp. These measures include profiling of the IDPs through security agencies, getting information from their relatives and traditional leaders from their home states among others.
According to Folorunsho, no fewer than 2,709 of the IDPs were presently pursuing their education in both tertiary, secondary and primary institutions under the sponsorship of the management of the IDP camp.
He explained that whereas 161 of them were presently in various institutions of higher learning, another set of 157 who did extremely well in the 2022 JAMB examination were waiting to be admitted into higher institution.
He also said that there were 1,275 of the IDPs in secondary school and 1,116 of them in primary school.
“Over the years we have seen children that were initially educational disadvantage because of the situation they found themselves, becoming graduates in various disciplines.
“For this reason, no sacrifice will be too great for us to shoulder to give their lives a meaning. This Is Our Motivation.”
Folorunsho disclosed that the primary and secondary schools being attended by the IDPs was within the camp and constructed by the management of the camp.
He explained that the management of the camp discovered that majority of the IDPs who fled to the camp from the North East due to insurgency and insecurity, were people of school age whose education may have been cut short.
He noted that it had been very challenging meeting up with the sponsorship and educational responsibilities of those in tertiary institutions, but however said that once a while, there were support and assistance from kind hearted Nigerians.
The coordinator also revealed that the camp had produced 61 graduates comprising of 24 university graduates in the field of law, nursing science, pharmacy, public administrations among others.
“We have also produce 37 graduates of National Certificate of Education/National Diploma in Mathematics, Biology/Chemistry Education, Animal Health and Production Technology.
He disclosed that more than 28 of those who have graduated have been gainfully employed.
Some of the IDPs disclosed that the education provided by the management of the camp has impacted positively on them.
According to Abigail Emmanuel, an SS 1 student in the camp, the education provided by the pastor has impacted her positively.
“I started from nursery one, but today I’m in SS 1, and in two years time I will be writing my SSCE, and preparing for university, and I hope to be a doctor.
Rifkatu Ali, is a 500 level Law student of the Edo state University, Uzairue, and an IDP in the Uhogua IDP camp. According to her she came to the camp in 2018, and started her education in the camp from SS 1.
She said she received quality education at the camp which has now come to play in her in the university as she keeps standing out among her course mates.
She said that the education had also instilled human feeling in her, because according to her, the coordinator of the camp has displayed nothing but feeling for all the IDPs in the camp.
Usman Philemon is also an IDP in the camp studying Medicine and Surgery in the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT). He says he had lost hope of going back to school before getting to the camp.
He however said that on getting to the camp, he was encouraged to return back to class, adding that he took the challenge.
He said that after six years he would have qualified as a medical doctor, and the first in his family, the first in his community, and among the few in his local government.
Also speaking, Pastor Evelyn Omigie, said that providing the education support to the IDPs has not been easy, but because education was the bedrock of any society that wants the best for her citizens, the management of the camp had to and keep striving to provide education for the IDPs.
According to her, we discovered that the only way to bring hope to these children that have gone through traumatic situations watching their parents butchered like cows in the hands of Boko Haram insurgents is to rehabilitate them and give them quality education so that life will be meaningful to them.
“It has not being an easy task but God has been wonderful, using governments, private agencies, churches and individuals to make this dream a reality.
“It has been tough getting help but we are still appealing to the public, government at all levels, Non Government Organisations (NGO) and individuals that loves humanity to come and support the children because the numbers currently in various universities are many. They need support in order to be able to achieve their academic goals.
“We need support for their school fees and this is aside the primary and secondary school students who are in school within the camp.”
Folorunsho also said the challenges faced by the camp management in giving education to these set of Nigerian swas still daunting, adding that the objectives of the project would be the torchlight for further success.
“It has not been easy. There were times we had to owe teachers, there were times some of the teachers had had to drop because we were owing them for as much as four months.”(NAN)