Basic education: What Northern governments must learn from Nasarawa State

The recent warning issued by the Nasarawa State Government to parents and guardians who fail to enroll their children in school is both timely and instructive. 

Coming at a period when Nigeria grapples with a staggering estimate of 20 million out-of-school children approximately 80 percent of whom are domiciled in Northern Nigeria this move signifies a shift from passive policymaking to active enforcement. It is a model that demands the attention of every governor in the region.

Basic education is not merely a policy choice; it is a legal obligation and a moral responsibility. Section 6 of the Child Rights Law clearly mandates free and compulsory basic education for every child. Consequently, the decision by the Nasarawa State Universal Basic Education Board to enforce this provision is a necessary assertion of the rule of law. For too long, the sanctity of the child's right to education has been violated by parental negligence and cultural inertia, and the state’s resolve to prosecute offenders serves as a potent reminder that the future of the child is a matter of state interest.

However, the Nasarawa example is commendable not just because of its punitive threats, but because of its holistic approach to the crisis. The state government recognizes that enforcement alone cannot solve the problem. While prosecution may serve as a deterrent, the government has the concurrent duty to ensure that public schools are genuinely accessible, staffed, and conducive to learning. It is one thing to force a child into a classroom; it is another to ensure there is a teacher there to teach them.

In this regard, the state’s strategy to address systemic weaknesses is pragmatic. The decision to redeploy 1,900 qualified teachers from local government administrative offices back to the classrooms, with an additional 1,000 expected to follow, is a bold administrative surgery. It addresses the paradox of manpower shortages in primary schools while qualified personnel languish in redundant secretarial roles. This approach acknowledges that compelling parents to send children to school must go hand in hand with improving the quality of education on offer.

This is the critical lesson for the rest of Northern Nigeria. Governors across the region must treat basic education as an emergency priority. The alarming statistics of out-of-school children in the North are a ticking time bomb for security and economic stability. To defuse it, governors must move beyond rhetoric and adopt the rigorous application of the Child Rights Act. They must summon the political will to audit their teaching workforce and ensure that qualified hands are at the chalkboard, not pushing files in government secretariats.

Furthermore, while the enforcement of compulsory education laws must be firm, it must also be humane. Parents who deliberately keep their children out of school should be held accountable, but enforcement must be accompanied by social interventions for vulnerable families. State governments must ensure that the barriers of poverty and unsafe learning environments are removed.

Nasarawa State has signaled that the era of treating education as optional is over. It is a bold step that challenges the status quo. If the Northern region hopes to bridge the widening gap in literacy and development, its governors must replicate this synergy of legal enforcement and structural reform. The classroom is the only viable factory for the region's future, and it must be filled by all means necessary.