By Prof. Herbert M. Eze, Special to the ASSIST News Service
MUBI, NIGERIA (ANS – July 31, 2015)
-- As the academic year 2014/015 ended on Friday July 24, 2015 in
Nigeria, it is necessary to tell the unfortunate story of how many
schools in northeastern Nigeria with particular reference to those in
Mubi, Adamawa State, had less than one term of schooling out of the
three terms, due to the activities of the Boko Haram (BH) insurgents.
I
have delayed in telling the story of what our school suffered amidst
the crises that engulfed this part of Nigeria until I personally
travelled to Mubi after it was recovered by the Joint Task Force (JTF)
to see what is left of the city and its investments after the carnage.
The forces of Boko Haram entered
the city of Mubi and began to unleash terror on Wednesday, October 24,
2014. I would have arrived Mubi the previous day, Tuesday, if I had not
changed my travel plan to go the upper week.
Our school Supervisor arrived
Mubi from Onitsha on Monday, the 22nd, and just left the school compound
a few minutes on Wednesday morning before the BH struck at about 10.45
am. She escaped from where she was because coming back would be
suicidal, but she called the school and warned them of the unfortunate
development in the city. It was a call that helped in saving many lives
although we lost some lives.
The supervisor and one of the
head teachers who escaped death during the Mubi crises fled to Yola but
became stranded as their journey to Onitsha was delayed for days because
luxury buses were not available for their journey down south. Even when
they became available, the population waiting in Yola for the journey
was too much, therefore people lined up for days before it could reach
their turn for the journey.
These two ladies visited me in
Nnewi on Saturday, November 8, 2014, after their return from Yola and
gave me first- hand account of what transpired in Mubi during the BH
incident. They informed me that the school lost our Chairman of Parents
Teachers Association (P.T.A), and a male parent of our school children.
Resumption date for the third
term 2014/015 in Evangel Academy, Mubi, was on Monday, 27 April. I sent a
text message to our key staff members to inform them, however, it was
only the principal that called me on that day and reported his arrival
to Mubi. For security reasons, our staff from the East and the school
children from the eastern area did not respond. Even among the
indigenes, it took some time before staff and school children started
gradually returning to school.
General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB)
became president elect following the presidential and national assembly
elections on 29th of April and later sworn in as president a month
later. Our staff and people from the east began trickling into the city
when people started to feel a bit secure after GMB was sworn in
peacefully as President.
Even till the end of the term on
Friday, July 24, 2015, we only had less than a-quarter of the previous
school population and could hardly pay our available staff not to talk
of adding the cost of my transport and other expenditures to Mubi during
the trip. This accounts for my not travelling again to participate in
the end of the year event scheduled for Sunday, July 26th.
I hope to be in Mubi at the
beginning of next term for Teacher Education and Planning Programme
(TEPP) which has been our tradition almost since the inception of
Evangel Academy in 1987. However, the security situation is yet to
improve following the recent killings in Askira Uba near Mubi by BH
insurgents believed to have come from Sambisa forest.
We pray that President Buhari
will soon deliver on his promise of defeating and totally uprooting
terrorism in the country. Until then, the hope of having steady
schooling in Mubi is dashed. For the whole academic year, 2014/015, we
lost first and second term and the third term was incomplete. Although
we may not say this for all the schools in northeastern States of Borno,
Adamawa and Yobe, but sure, for most of them.
If
the government pay their public school staff and maintain their schools
from the federation and state accounts which accrue from our oil money,
taxes and other public funds, from where will private schools pay their
staff and maintain their schools; especially these schools in crises
affected areas which lost much/most of their population and returned to
damaged and abandoned compounds? Are the staff, pupils and students in
these school not Nigerians? Some financial support from the government
and philanthropists, in such a time as this, will help to encourage
their efforts in contributing to education in Nigeria.
Evangel Academy, Mubi, in
Adamawa State has provided education in the State for nearly three
decades through our Day-care, Nursery, Primary and Secondary School
programs. Our vision/ proposal for a private university is only on hold
due to the present crises in the northeast. We have made significant
contribution towards the development of Adamawa State in various ways.
(See GNAGAD/NISSGA 2014 Award, The Majesty Magazine, p. 54. Our Majesty
Global Magazine, Abuja).
Our graduates serve at various
places in Adamawa State and Nigeria both at the public and private
sectors. Many of them are presently in higher institutions at different
places in the country and overseas.
Photo captions: 1) Evangel Academy Students before the incident. 2) Students before the Boko Haram incident,
Prof. Herbert M. Eze can be reached by email at hmezefom@gmail.com.
** You may republish this or any of our ANS stories with attribution to the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net).
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