Education doesn’t make women wayward – Gombe AGILE Coordinator
……Lack of role models reason for poor girl-child education
…..I didn’t know if because I didn’t know how to cook, the reason my husband asked me to study Home Economics instead of PHE
Dr Amina Haruna Abdul, former President Women in Colleges of Education, former Dean School of Vocational Education in Federal College of Education Technical Gombe, currently the Project Coordinator Adolescent Girl Initiative for Learning and Empowerment, in this interview with CHIMA AZUBUIKE, shares insight to poor girl-child enrolment in Gombe, North-East and Nigeria in general.
There have been so many projects in education, why is this different? AGILE, is a new project by the World Bank which Gombe State Government invested in and is a participating state. The project is a comprehensive one for the girl-child, education in Gombe State, for our secondary schools and even for the boy-child. The project has three major components; the first is creating safe learning spaces, accessible learning spaces especially for the girl-child. This will entail building new schools where there are none for every primary school that doesn’t have a junior secondary school it will be constructed, for every Junior Secondary that doesn’t have senior class and no Senior Secondary School within four kilometers it will be constructed for them and there will be renovation of existing structures especially for Water Sanitation and Hygiene facilities. Most of our schools don’t give regard to WASH facilities this project is specific about it and it will be inclusive. This project focuses on sustainability particularly as we are expected to leverage on existing structures. All girl secondary school will be a priority first we have many of them like the one in Kuri, Doma, Kumo. We will look at each of them and see how to make it conducive for the girl-child, there are day schools with concentration of girls in Gombe we have Herwagana, Hassan Central and in other Local Government where there is a mixed school both boys and girls will benefit.
The second component is on life skills. It’s expected that every girl-child should complete atleast secondary school education before either getting married or going further or transiting into adulthood. These digital vocational life skills will equip the girl-child for successful transition into adulthood if she is to get married after secondary school fine, but she has knowledge and skills to take care of herself, baby, family and everything atleast she has the foundation to build on should she consider going back to school. Likewise, the digital skill in this era nothing moves without the ICT, in future even the teaching and learning process will be through the ICT and some of our teachers don’t have enough knowledge on it not to mention the children. When students go to register for Joint Admission and Matriculation Board examination they don’t find it easy; with this project it’s expected that every child will be computer literate will be able to utilise internet for many profitable ventures. We have second chance education as the name implies the girl-child yet to complete secondary school for one reason or the other either due to early marriage or due to pregnancy or whatever they now have a chance to enroll to complete their secondary education and hopefully some of them will proceed to the tertiary education for those with problem of poverty AGILE has also thought about it and taken care of that. There will be girls scholarship for from the poor background a stipend will be paid to the girl-child for first to third term for them to remain in school. Naturally, the aim of the project is to increase enrolment of the girl-child to retain the girl-child in school and to enable them complete their secondary education. We have monitoring and evaluation, no project will be complete without effective monitoring which is the third component of the project; to strengthen the system as it will help the World Bank and the State to strategise towards future improvement. This project is comprehensive and we are happy it has come to Gombe.
What was the situation of out-of-school children especially girl-child prior to this intervention? We can’t thank the Governor of Gombe State Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, enough because this is a rare opportunity that he has given me to change the situation of the girl-child which has been a cause of worry for me especially in Gombe. The situation of girl-child education is in a bad situation, if you have taken the road to Bauchi, Dukku many of our girls are on the road waiting for someone to hire them for the farm, some are tender in age, most of them have not completed secondary school but are on the road. They are picked by unknown people in the name of taking them to farm, some of them get molested some become sick from morning to evening their parents won’t know their situation or they carry items for hawking that is the situation. In the schools if 50 girls registered for school hardly will 20 graduate up to secondary school they drop out for one reason or the other some have to trek long distance to go to school which discourages them from the school. Some of them because of the nature of the girl-child are shy, timid, if they go to the school if the environment is not friendly, safe they will abandon the school. A girl-child in her puberty may need special WASH facilities, when she goes to the school and none is available she becomes discouraged; most of our schools don’t have good toilets, some don’t have water supply so how will the girl-child stay in school till closing in her condition. Poverty is real, some of them don’t have food to eat not to mention buying school uniform, school bags. This AGILE project is God sent because it will go a long way in improving education quality especially for the girl-child.
What is the situation of girl-child education in North-East, the North and Nigeria as a whole? If am to rank the situation of girl-child education out of 100 per cent, will I even give it 30 per cent in North-East and Northern Nigeria generally. It goes back to our culture and religious teachings. Culturally the girl-child is assumed to be seen and not heard. This has brainwashed the girl-child, parents that they don’t want to send their children to school; this is applicable to all the states in the North-East where you have poor enrolment of girls in schools even those that enroll they drop out along the line to get married they hardly complete their secondary education. The situation needs a lot of uplifting in the North-East and the country as a whole.
So for you as an accomplished academic what was the magic wand towards your educational background especially in your time when the odd was more around female children? I want to attribute it to God sent opportunity and to the fact that my parents were enlightened and partly because we the children were determined too to further our education. My father was a Dispenser, he believed in the education of both boy and girl, in the village where he was a Dispenser we were the first girls to go to school they kept telling our father that he wants to send his girls to school that we will be pregnant before we complete secondary school. Some said we will become wayward; he didn’t listen to them he kept saying that Nigeria has no room for lazy people, he instead said if they return with pregnancy he will slaughter them like ram (laughs). With that fear in our mind we were determined to succeed in school.
What were the benefits of his resistance to the community’s pressure on education? The village head sent his daughter to school, we had a friend we finished primary seven together we went to Women Teachers College, she went to community school. She always runs back home but the school authorities sent the Police warning that if his daughter runs back again they will lock him up, that friend of ours has become a matron today.
When did you become married?
After the first secondary school we got married at age 16 years. So any other furthering of education has to be in your father’s house. With marriage comes other responsibilities like child bearing, raising the children and shuttling between the school and other responsibilities. I have two children.
What informed your career choice, the institutions attended? Well we didn’t have career guidance at that time initially my choice was to become a nurse after primary seven you go for interview before selection. The principal said because I was small I should go to secondary school but because my teacher was in Women Teachers College, I said no, the principal was a woman from South Africa that time we had expatriates. She already wrote secondary but cancelled it thinking its wasn’t my choice they listen to the choices of children that was why I ended in WTC and finally graduated and started teaching. In my husband’s house I wanted to further he asked me what I wanted to study that time we had Advanced Teachers College and I told him Health and Physical Education but he didn’t like it. I don’t know if because when I married I was so young that I didn’t know how to cook, he asked me to go for Home Economics. I went to Ahmadu Bello University and studied Home Economics after teaching for some time I went to University of Jos to study Guidance and Counselling. When I was teaching in Federal College of Education, you know for promotion, the issue of relevance so the need for another Masters or School of Education. I had to get admission again to study another masters still in Home Economics in Ahmadu Bello University it took me three years after the completion I enrolled for PhD which took me four years; I thought I could rest, and just be researching. I started lecturing in College of Education Azare. Soon Gombe became a state in 1996, we came back to Gombe before then I was in Federal College of Education Gombe for an interview and I was employed infact I founded the department of Economics in FCE, I grew through the ladder. I acted for many years before I became the substantive Head of Department; I became dean school of Vocationals, council member, Secretary of Academic Union, I was Treasurer of cooperative, former President Women in Colleges of Education for more than six years.
How did you shoulder these responsibilities amidst requirements of the home front? I will say that luck was on my side. I have a supportive husband anytime I want to go to school, my first PhD admission was in University of Nigeria, Nsukka that time the children were six years and three years I was wondering how to manage the children he said I can go but I said no I won’t; that was how I missed the admission until when the children were older and I got admission in Zaria and left. When I’m not there, a relative was home to look after the children, my husband has been supportive I know friends whose husbands refused them from going to school.
Are you satisfied with number of women in politics? Laughs, if I say I’m satisfied, I may be deceiving myself especially with what happened in the previous election many of some of the politicians I know didn’t scale through. The bitter experience of Binani in Adamawa, some years ago in Taraba Aisha Alhassan, known as mama Taraba. Look at my sister Aishatu Dukku, former Representatives member from Gombe she was performing, she was also a vocal person, she sponsored a bill on Federal of Education for Girls especially Dukku. We are bitter but we are still working towards getting more positions. We have been talking about affirmative action, and still following the men one day we pray that it becomes a reality.
Advice to girls, women ? They should not give up easily they should try and empower themselves economically, educationally. You can’t fold your arms and wait for manner to fall from heaven, you can’t expect the men to give you ticket on a platter, you need to proof yourself to show you can do it if they see it they will even encourage you, instead of staying aside grumbling my right is being denied, you need to proof that you can do it. I like to say that an educated child is beyond prize; she worths more than gold, if we educate our female children we are bettering our future and our tomorrow will be better because from a girl-child you will get a mother, a nation.
To the mothers or women; especially women like me that are privileged to be in public space. I always tell them to be role models it’s the lack of role models that discourages some girls from pursing their aspiration. This has impacted in reasons why some parents don’t allow the girl-child to get education with the fear that the child will become wayward. Some husbands will say if I allow my wife to get education be it College of Education or University she may she other men and before you know I will mean nothing to her again and truly many of them seek for divorce when they get such opportunities in their matrimonial homes. Each time I have the opportunity I always appeal to when who have the opportunity to be in public offices, get educated to be good role models for the upcoming ones so that you can be a reason why that father will allow his daughters to go to school, so that society will see you and no that education doesn’t make a girl-child irresponsible but most responsible and responsive. One thing that I did very well was to share knowledge, skills my students and colleagues don’t need me to be available to do certain things already you have thought them on how to bake they don’t need you to be available to take the students to the lab to teach them how to bake a cake assuming I hoard the knowledge you will work till you retire, even if I exit I know the department is in capable hand God willing the samething will happen in AGILE. Now I’m on loan to Ministry of Education just because of this project, my wish and prayer is that Gombe AGILE will be the best.
How do you relax?
Laughs, I’m not the exercise type because of I go out I will be conspicuous, people will be looking at me. I do light exercise at home to avoid unnecessary attention. I surf the internet with my phone, I just read post but I rarely post. Before I arrived here I was at a function Voice of Women in Nigeria, I do small politics and sometimes I go to my kitchen.
Do you still cook?
Yes, even now I still cook I don’t leave it to the house help. I do cook my meals. I don’t always delegate it I still delight in making meals for the family.
What type of music interests you? I like old school in those days even now I like Shata, Bob Marley. If I play those music my children will be wondering the type of music we were listening to; I will always tell them to listen very well they will understand, then my husband was a Naval Officer, he likes music. We had good collection of the music.
What kind of colour appeals to you? Brown, Green.
As a Muslimah, with societal rating what’s your fashion sense like? I like being modest.
