Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has shared a deeply emotional moment from his recent visit to former President Muhammadu Buhari in Daura, Katsina State. Atiku disclosed that during the trip, he was heartbroken by the sight of large groups of young Almajiris scattered along the roadside.
Speaking in an interview with Symfoni TV, Atiku recounted how the situation left a lasting impression on him, as he reflected on the alarming state of education in northern Nigeria — a region once famed for academic excellence. “I nearly shed tears when I last visited President Muhammadu Buhari in Daura. I landed at Katsina airport, and from Katsina airport up to Daura, I saw a host of Almajiris from 20, 30, 40 to large numbers on the road,” Atiku lamented.
He spoke of the painful irony that this region, which produced Nigeria’s founding statesmen, is now facing such educational decline. “This is the home of the former Katsina College, where all our first republic leaders went to. Today, it is the home of Almajiris in their 20s, 30s, 40s. Till I went to Daura and from Daura till I came back to the airport, ladies and gentlemen, these are very serious issues,” Atiku added.
The former presidential candidate stressed that these problems don’t only concern today’s generation but will inevitably impact future ones as well. “And these issues are not only about ourselves, but about our children and grandchildren. Like I used to tell my children, I said, ‘Look, I live my life. Thank God, but it is about you and about their kids. We better face these challenges seriously now,’” he said.
Drawing from his time in office under President Olusegun Obasanjo, Atiku recalled efforts he made to address educational setbacks in the North. “The North has been backward in education for quite some time. I went with the President. I said, ‘Look, I want to set up an educational panel, particularly focusing on our states.’ And we set up a panel under an international economist, and he came out with a blueprint, which I invited all the governors of the northern states to in Kaduna and handed over those blueprints for implementation,” Atiku recounted.
He also highlighted landmark educational initiatives established during that administration, particularly the Universal Basic Education (UBE) scheme. “Not only that, we passed UBE, Universal Basic Education, compulsory, and we made education compulsory for every Nigerian child from primary up to secondary school, compulsory and free. We imposed education tax. We collect this tax. We pass this tax to the states,” he explained.
Atiku’s remarks have once again drawn attention to the growing crisis of out-of-school children in northern Nigeria and the long-term consequences it poses for the country.
(You can start watching the full video here from minute 4:23.)
