Buratai blames educational failings for youth involvement in criminal activities.
Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, has opined that poor education plays a major role in youths’ involvement in criminal activities and other societal ills that constitute threats to national security.
Speaking at the Nigerian Army Resource Centre’s Seminar with the theme ‘Repositioning Nigerian Army Command School for Quality Education in the 21st Century in Abuja on Thursday, Buratai who was represented by Major General Lincon Ogunewe, Chief of Policy and Plans, Army HQ, noted that children who were deprived of quality education would be ill-equipped to face the challenges of life while other nations preoccupied themselves in preparation for the 22 century.
He said that poor education would always lead to frustration among the youth and made them to venture into crimes such as kidnapping, assassination, armed robbery, human trafficking, militancy and other threats to national security.
Insisting that the quality of education in any organization would always contribute effectively to national security and development, Ogunewe said, “Education security is all about ensuring that citizens have access to quality education in order to add value anywhere in the world less they be educationally disenfranchised.
“This is because if we don’t give our children quality education, they will become excluded, vulnerable, disempowered and ill equipped to face the challenges of the current era while other nations prepare their generation for the 22nd century.
“The relationship between education, national security and national development lies in the fact that provision of quality education will empower more youths to contribute to national development while poor education on the other hand leads to inability to contribute to national development.
“When this occurs, such youth become frustrated and either engaged in kidnapping, assassination, human trafficking, armed robbery and/or militancy thus constituting a nuisance in the society and a threat to national security. Based on this, provision of quality education in any organization is thus a panacea for solving national security challenges and positive contribution to national development.”
He said that the theme of the seminar ‘Repositioning NA Command Schools for Quality Education in the 21st Century’ was in support of the vision to make the Army professional in the discharge of its responsibilities.
He said that the Command schools produced many of the young officers of the Army stressing that the service would suffer a setback in the area of professionalism if the schools were allowed to rot.
Speaking earlier, the Director General of the Centre, Maj. Gen. JGS Jamakim, says that the COAS directed the Department of Army Standards and Evaluation to carry out a survey of the Command schools in order to reposition them to improved academic excellence.
He said that the move became necessary in view of the decline in the standard of education among government schools including the command schools.
END.
