Bauchi Fulani Community Seeks More Educational Facilities 

Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi

Fulani Community in Sabon Garin Yisin in Tafawa Balewa LGA of Bauchi has expressed fear that if the government doesn’t support the community with more classrooms and educational facilities, their children’s quest for education would be jeopardised.

The community leader, Hardo Luje Mohammed, made the appeal during an advocacy visit to the community by an NGO, Women Development Initiative for Self Sustenance (WODASS). 

Mohammed stated that about 150 children may abandon their thirst for modern education due to the lack of permanent school buildings.

“One block of classroom built with mud through self-help was grossly inadequate and may not meet the needs of a large population of children of the nomads who nurse ambition for both modern Islamic and Western forms of education,” he said.

The community leader said the building now serves the interest of primary four to five classes while other pupils take lessons in the open, not even under three.

Mohammed, who took the visiting team round the school site, complained about the lack of teaching aids, portable water and desks, as pupils have to sit on bare floors to learn, with local graduates serving as volunteer teachers.

He called on the nomadic education agency to come to their aid “by correcting the wrong perception that Fulani people dislike all forms of education.”

Mohammed assured that if a permanent structure is built, parents who had withdrawn their children would be encouraged to return them.

Another Fulani leader, Hardo Gambo Abdullahi of Rugan Gambo in Bula ward, said a two-kilometre distance between his community and Jambil was stressful for children of the area. He urged the Tafawa Balewa local council and SUBEB to set up a school at Rugan Gambo to enable children of the area to benefit from the dividends of democracy.

Speaking on behalf of the NGO, Mr. Magaji Barde said the visit was informed by the need to scale up best hygiene practices to check the spread of waterborne diseases.

He implored Fulanis to extend their passion for education to embrace the best personal and environmental hygiene behaviour that would add value to their social well-being. 

Barde commented on Fulani residents of both communities for their self-help effort, ensuring that their request would be forwarded to the appropriate government agencies for necessary action.