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Out-of-school children future recruitment for Boko Haram, Obasanjo warns

Out-of-school children future recruitment for Boko Haram, Obasanjo warns

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that the out-of-school children menace in the country provides a fertile ground for the recruitment of future Boko Haram insurgents if not properly addressed now.

Obasanjo said this on Sunday in Bauchi, when he inaugurated the dualized seven-kilometer Awala-Mairuguri Road and 17.70-kilometre Awalah-Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa National Airport Road. He also inaugurated the 30-kilometer Gubi-Ruda Bida-Siyi-Nasarawa Road.

In a speech at the ceremony, Obasanjo said that education and human capacity building are very essential in ensuring development and creation of a safer society.

He said: “World Bank says we have over 20 million out-of-school children, who should be in school but are not.

“For a population of about 220 to 230 million, that is 10 per cent of our population that should be in school that are not in school.

“Dear governor of Bauchi State, your Royal Highnesses present here, brothers and sisters, that is recruitment for future Boko Haram and nobody needs to tell us that,” he said.

Obasanjo called on leaders at all levels to put their hands together and find a lasting solution to the menace once and for all.

He commended Governor Bala Mohammed for embarking on the road construction, renovation and dualisation, adding that they would open new opportunities for development.

He further said that the projects would significantly enhance transportation, boost commerce, create new jobs and make life easier for the residents and farmers in the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Obasanjo also launched the distribution of 10,000 hearing aids to indigent people from the Northeast in Bauchi facilitated by the Olusegun Obasanjo Foundation, in partnership with Starkey Hearing Foundation.

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