Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State on Saturday insisted that parents who failed to send their children to school in September in the state would be jailed.

The governor, who stated this at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House, during the screening of the “He named me Malala,” documentary organised by his wife, Hadiza, said parents who did not want to take their children to school, were free to leave the state.

He said, “You can leave Kaduna State if you don’t want to send your child to school next month. No Street begging again. All our children must go to school. Any parent who refuses to send his or her child to school will be prosecuted and send to prison.”

This is just as the state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Andrew Nok, said the current administration in the state had awarded scholarships to 40 girls to study Medicine in Uganda as a way of encouraging girl-child education.

Also, El-Rufai’s wife, Hadiza, said the percentage of out-of-school girls was too high and the government had decided to solve the problem. She said young girls constituted a significant percentage of the population and must be supported with education and training required to ensure that they contributed effectively to the society.

El-Rufai’s wife said, “I wish to start by thanking all of you for coming to this screening of the ‘He named me Malala Documentary.’ While most of us know Malala as the 19-year-old Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner, it is important to know where her journey started.

“Malala was just a regular Pakistani girl with a penchant for education until in 2012 when her pursuit for education resulted in her being shot and put in a coma. The attack received worldwide condemnation; she has since recovered from the tragedy and has translated this tragedy to worldwide advancements in girl child education.

“In Kaduna State, we are working assiduously to create opportunities, the percentage of girls out of school is way too high and this is a problem we have decided to solve. In cognizance of this, we are working hard to increase female enrolment in good schools, improve school curriculum and make affordable health care available for everyone.”

Also Kaduna State Government will soon domesticate the Child Rights Act to protect girls and give them fair chances for self realisation. Governor El-Rufai made the statement on Wednesday in Kaduna at an event organised to commemorate the 2016 World Population Day. Represented by his deputy, Mr Barnabas Bantex, the governor said that the bill had been forwarded to the state Assembly for passage. He said: “we cannot deny that teenage girls in the country, especially in the north are facing issues detrimental to their well being.“Issues ranging from forced marriages, early motherhood, sexual abuse, gender discrimination and lack of access to education and prompt justice. “In response to this, we are strengthening our justice system to speedily respond and tackle cases of rape and other forms of violence and abuse against the girl child.’’ The governor reiterated the commitment of his administration to invest in the development of teenage girls, stressing that the state would continue to invest massively in the education of children. “Just recently, the state’s House of Assembly passed an executive bill that gives every child access to nine-year

In another development, Governor Nasir el-Rufai has signed into law the Bill Prohibiting Hawking and Begging in Kaduna State. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Bill, passed by the state Assembly, has attracted criticisms from residents.

The Bill, signed on Tuesday by the governor, would however come into effect from September 2016. El-Rufai told a delegation from UNESCO, UNICEF and USAID, during the signing of a partnership agreement to boost the education sector, that every child in the state must go to school. “This morning, I signed a bill that prohthat prohibits street hawking and begging in Kaduna state. From September 2016, every child between the ages of 6 and 15 must be in school, not on the street hawking or begging, otherwise the parents must be prosecuted and sent to prison.

We have taken this step to give impetus to the Universal Basic Education Act which makes basic education in Nigeria compulsory. We must force people to send their children to school and we are not going to give them choice; everyone in Kaduna state must go to school,” he said. El-Rufai stressed that his administration would “open the doors of learning to every child and will not shirk in its responsibility to make public schools capable of delivering quality education”. He said that the state government would build more classrooms to enable every child in the state access qualitative basic education.

SOURCE: (PUNCH AND NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA)

Nice move for el fufai

Cool