Orphaned by insurgency: Meet kids who dare to dream big

A couple of years ago, a Sokoto philanthropist dared to dream, setting up a school for 160 young children, mostly orphans from the insurgency-ravaged North-East. Today, the bright youngsters are not only daring to dream, but are on a path to actualising it.

Abdullahi, 14, exudes confidence and poise as he articulates a remark on the initiative that has come to shape his life, and those of 160 other orphans at the Jarma UK Academy, in Sokoto. It has been two-and-a-half years since these children, orphaned by the insurgency in North-Eastern Nigeria, moved from Borno and Yobe, to Sokoto.

From packed-full camps – where many of them felt unsettled – to a serene atmosphere and all that the academy offers, like shelter, food, clothing, Islamic and western education.

For Abdullahi, the Head Boy of the school, the care and attention to their learning, development and overall wellbeing is cheering. “It has been good, and also exciting,” said the JSS student, who is the best in his class.

Bilqis, 12, is the Head Girl, anad one of 46 females. A little shy, but well-spoken, the JSS1 student said the atmosphere of the school, and the quality of knowledge imparted, are most pleasing to them. One of the top students in her class, she shared that she enjoys all subjects offered in the school, as other enthusiastic girls at the female hostel stood by, listening attentively.

Jarma UK Academy was established in 2018 by philanthropist Alhaji Umaru Kwabo, who was moved by the plight of the children, and decided to ‘create a future for them’, as he put it then.

At inception, the intention was to give the children primary and secondary education. But the proprietor has indicated that each of the students should go to university and bag a degree before they return to their states.

Abdullah and Bilqis, incidentally, both want to study Medicine, in university.

Chairman of the Management Committee of the Academy, Malam Muhammad Lawal Maidoki, told Daily Trust Saturday that the school was established out of compassion and part of being one another’s keeper, “Brotherhood between the people of Sokoto, and those of Borno.”

“Everyone is aware of what has happened over the years, concerning Boko Haram attacks,” Maidoki said, “Turning many women to widows, and children into orphans, as well as the spread of hunger and malnutrition.”

Maidoki, tracing the genesis of the initiative, said: “It all began when we mobilised some funds and food items to Borno under the auspices of the Sahara Centre in Sokoto.  During the distribution, we noticed that some of the children could not identify their parents, and others could not even get enough meals, let alone education.”

Maidoki recalled that upon return to Sokoto after submitting their report, the Sahara Centre and some of the brothers in their committee, took up the challenge of identifying how to further assist survivors of insurgency in Borno State. “That was what culminated in bringing the children from Borno down to Sokoto,” he said.

Of the over 160 orphans at the school, 110 hail from Borno, 21 from Yobe and 30 from Sokoto.

“We got some orphans from the 23 local government areas of Sokoto State to join them to further strengthen unity, understanding, and brotherhood among the people of the three states,” Maidoki said.

The principal of the school, Malam Murtala, told Daily Trust Saturday that the school has seven classes, comprising primary and JSS, with pupils and students ages ranging from 6-14. Some of the children, barely three-years-old when they were brought to Sokoto, were placed in the nursery class. However, he also said, “Now there is no nursery class, as they have progressed to the next level, the primary one.”

A cross-section of the children spoken to by Daily Trust Saturday said they have acquired considerable knowledge in both Islamic and western studies, over the past 30 months. Malam Maidoki confirms: “Today some of them have memorised five Hizb of the Holy Qur’an, while others have memorised 10, some 15, and some are even on their 17th. God willing, each of them would have memorised the Qur’an in the next three or four years.”

The school enjoys the assistance of the state government, which has facilitated the employment of more teachers. Of the academy’s 17 teachers, 10 are males, and 7 females. The Sokoto State government also set up a clinic for the school,staffed by nine health personnel.

Also, Maidoki said the Military Hospital in Sokoto made an open offer to take care of any student with an ailment that the clinic cannot handle.“Personnel of the Military Hospital do come here to meet the children and examine them, and wherever there is need for them to come in, they do,” he said.

However, it is not all work and no play: After studies, there is recreation, as the academy’s girls and boys engage in sports such as football, volleyball, and table tennis. Before the coronavirus pandemic, the school management even takes them on outings to some recreational facilities around the city.

The school is also supported by the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, who asked that the word ‘orphan’ be struck out of the school’s name at conception. “They are orphans,” he said, “But today I am their father as the Amir of the Muslim Ummah in Nigeria and the Sultan of Sokoto.” He also said he wants them to graduate from the school with an appellation they could boast of.

Daily Trust Saturday learnt that during festive periods, the state governor, as well as the Sultan of Sokoto, sometimes visit the school. Other times, the students visit Government House on invitation from the governor’s wife, and they also visit the Sultan’s palace at other times.

The Matron, Malama Hadiza, is one of the three staffers who were brought in with the children from Borno and Yobe states, to take care of them, some of whom before now understood only their native languages.“The girls are a joy to be with,” she said, expanding on the various ways in which they are cared for. Among the students, she added, are two sets of twins, called the ‘Borno twins’ and the ‘Sokoto twins’. Hassana and Hussaina, each from both sets, soon became best friends.

To give the male and female students an added advantage, there are moves to commence entrepreneurship training in the school with vocational skills such as computer tech, tailoring, catering, weaving, home management, agriculture, barbing, soap-making, and more.“We want every child here to have skills to be self-reliant on graduation,” Malam Maidoki revealed.

Remarkably, at the time the youngsters arrived Sokoto, some could not read or write, as they had never gone to school. But today, the story is different: Not only are they excelling in academics, they are also doing what they previously could not dare to do, which is to dream of – and achieve – better lives.