The information credited to the Minister of Women Affairs and Youth Development, Hajiya Aisha Jummai Alhassan to the effect that 106 Chibok school girls recently released by the Boko Haram would be enrolled into the ABTI American University, comes as no surprise considering her recent declaration of support for Atiku Abubakar.
Atiku is, after all, the proprietor of the said institution, and it may be surmised that this is the beginning of the now familiar patron-client relationship in Nigerian politics. However, the following questions are pertinent: One, Are Chibok girls a special case, considering that other girls,women,and men, have also been abducted and released, without receiving any such special treatment?
Two, is the government aware of the dangers involved in enrolling these girls into an important agent of socialization without first deradicalising them? The minister has tried to justify this by saying that the girls were under government care when abducted. Just who is not under government care in this country?
Afterall it is the constitutional responsibility of government to provide all citizens security of life and property without discrimination; three, the choice of a private educational institution also raises some ethical questions. Is the government now publicly suggesting that private educational institutions are better than public ones? Moreover, considering the youthfulness of the schoolgirls, is it right to subject them to brainwashing at such an early stage in their educational careers?
These questions need to be answered by the Nigerian government.
Dr. Saleh Omar, Gombe State University, Gombe.
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