Boko Haram Has Made Northeast 500 Years Behind Southern Nigeria In Education – Unimaid Vc

BEVERLY HILLS, January 27, (THEWILL) – Vice-Chancellor of the University of Maiduguri, UNIMAID, Prof. Abubakar Njodi, has noted that it may take the Northeast between 500 to 1000 years to recover from the devastation wrecked on its education system by Boko Haram terrorists and attain the standard that currently obtains in southern Nigeria.

He spoke on Friday when he received a delegation from the Victims' Support Fund, VSF, on a condolence visit over the January 16 suicide bomb attack that claimed the lives of three staff of the university, including a professor.

Njodi recalled that even before the advent of Boko Haram, studies indicated that the Northeast was about 150 years behind other parts of the country, particularly the south.

The professor of Physical and Health Education said, “Education in the North is endangered.

“I have said it at different fora that prior to Boko Haram, there were some studies, some real, some speculative, that showed the north was 100 years behind the south. And that was before Boko Haram came. What it means here is that, at that time if the south should stop going to school, it would take the north 100 years to catch up.

“When the north was broken up into Northeast, Northwest and Northcentral, the Northeast was 150 years behind. And also at that time, if the south stopped going to school, it would take the Northeast 150 years to catch up.

“With the situation that the Boko Haram has put us now, if those studies are anything to go by, the North-east may require about 500 to 1000 years to catch up with the other parts of the country”.

The UNIMAID VC maintained that the future of education in the Northeast “looks gloomy”, adding that it requires the support of all.