Former Interim National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Bisi Akande, has identified mass education as the most effective solution to Nigeria’s persistent insecurity challenges.
Akande made the assertion on Friday while speaking with journalists during the celebration of his 87th birthday, at his country home in Ila, Osun State.
He warned that the declining standard of education in Nigeria poses a serious threat to the country’s future, noting that graduates trained under poor educational systems would be unable to compete globally with their counterparts from countries with advanced learning institutions.
According to him, insecurity across the country ranging from terrorism to banditry and kidnapping can only be addressed through sustained investment in education.
“The answer to insecurity is mass education. Obafemi Awolowo introduced mass education about 70 years ago, around 1955, and that is why we are not killing ourselves in the South-West,” Akande said.
He added, “Now, look at Boko Haram, banditry and kidnapping. Let people study very deeply. Your generation cannot eradicate insecurity completely, but it can be gradually eliminated if you adopt deep, mass, universal education.”
Akande stressed that education is what separates human beings from animals, arguing that lack of education breeds violence and moral decay.
“When you are not educated, you are like an animal. You don’t mind killing people; you can be a murderer and not be ashamed of it,” he said.
