Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has warned that Nigeria’s growing population of out-of-school children could become easy targets for terrorist recruitment if urgent action is not taken.
Obasanjo gave the warning on Tuesday at the inauguration of the Bakhita ICT Centre in Sokoto, describing the situation as a “time bomb.”
“You don’t need an oracle to know they will become the recruiting ground for the Boko Haram of tomorrow. If we fail to prepare now, the Boko Haram of today will be child’s play compared with what we may face in the future,” he said.
The former president stressed that Nigeria must invest more in human development, empowerment, and employment to prevent insecurity from worsening.
Nigeria currently has an estimated 24 million out-of-school children, with UNICEF reporting that more than 10 million are in the North, many of them in the Almajiri system. The region continues to face violent extremism, mass school abductions, and deep poverty.
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The Bakhita ICT Centre, which was inaugurated by Obasanjo, was built by the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Most Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah, with support from philanthropist Aare Afe Babalola. The facility is equipped with 250 laptops and 50 tablets and aims to train young people in digital and vocational skills.
Bishop Kukah challenged northern leaders to break the cycle of poverty.
“Among the almajiri on our streets, there could be an Albert Einstein. Our duty as leaders, parents, pastors, and imams is to shine the light on their potential,” he said.
He also stressed unity across faiths: “Christians and Muslims may quarrel, but mosquitoes don’t discriminate. They bite everyone in the mosque and in the church. That is God’s way of reminding us to work together.”
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, also spoke at the event. He cautioned against exaggerating Nigeria’s religious divisions.
“If we can sit here in Sokoto, just five minutes from the Sultan’s palace, to commission a Bakhita ICT Centre with Christians and Muslims praying side by side, why does nobody talk about that?” he asked.