Jonathan Speaks On The Method He Used In Curtailing Insecurity In The North While In Power

Former president, Good luck Jonathan has opened up on the reason he built Almajiri School in the North while he was in power.

Jonathan shared his thoughts while speaking at the maiden Bayelsa State Education Summit, with the theme “Optimising the Delivery, Performance and Sustainability of Outcomes in the Education Sector,” at the Conference Hall of the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, in Yenagoa the Bayelsa State capital.

He stated that in a bid to curb the incessant crisis and insecurity plaguing the North he decided to infuse western education into their society.

He maintained that there cannot be a functional society without a functional educational system.

He said: “When I was the Vice President, I was discussing with one of my Technical Assistants from Anambra State about the crisis in the North and how we can tackle it. Some group of young boys appears not to have future and we cannot allow the system to remain like that so that we don’t have crisis.

“We went around the North, discussed with the clerics who teach these boys under trees and makeshift buildings. We also discussed with the emirs.

“They (Almajiris) felt that they were educated but the society still rejects them. Even their local government council cannot employ them even as messengers because they don’t have any element of Western education attached to the Koranic education.

“That was why my administration insisted that we must assist the northern states. The idea was to incorporate Western education into their Islamic learning so that they can have a balanced education.”