Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State has put plans in place to make it a criminal offence for parents in the state to refuse sending their children to school. This would be the case if a bill presented by the governor before the state House of Assembly is eventually passed into law.
The Governor made this disclosure on Monday, while addressing religious, traditional and political leaders from 11 local government areas of the state who visited to pay him Sallah homage in Sokoto.
He explained that as part of measures to enhance implementation of the new policy, government will build and equip 240 primary and tertiary healthcare centres in the three senatorial zones of the state.
Although considered in some quarters as both radical and revolutionary, the move is the governor’s way of boosting school enrolment and providing quality education to every child as required by local and international laws.
Tambuwal, who stressed that the policy became necessary in view of the high number of parents who deliberately frustrated government efforts to educate children, assured that the state government has already made adequate arrangements to cater for the educational needs of its citizens.
While recalling that the founders of Sokoto Caliphate made their marks in the areas of education and scholarship, he insisted that there would be no excuse if their successors failed to provide at least basic education to the future generation.
The governor, who also posited that many ills of the society will be taken care of if the state gets its education priorities right, warned that anyone caught flouting the new regulation will not be spared.
Tambuwal called on the leaders to support the new initiative, maintaining that vocational training centres and employment opportunities will be created to cater for the youths and other vulnerable members of the society.
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