The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, stated on Friday that Nigeria is experiencing the repercussions of its past actions, particularly evident in the increased incidents of banditry and terrorism, primarily in the Northern region.
He attributed the insurgency to the government’s failure to prioritize the education of the youth, cautioning that the situation could deteriorate further.
Delivering a lecture at the 42nd Actualisation Conference of Rotary International, District 9110 in Abeokuta, Ogun State, the Bishop highlighted the escalating security threats in Nigeria as a result of inadequate education among the younger generation.
The four-day conference saw the participation of numerous Rotarians from Lagos and Abeokuta.
He said “We are facing the challenges that are the consequences of our children not having education. Now everybody is fearing bandits, everybody is fearing Boko Haram, we are reaping today what we sowed yesterday and it will actually grow worse.
“We have millions of children, at least between 10 and 12 or 15 million children that are on the streets who are begging, each of these children are growing by the day, the Almajiri that is 10 now, in 10 years time he will be 20 years so unless we quickly do something the situation may go worse.”
He called on philanthropists, religious bodies and other humanitarian organisations to channel their efforts towards combating illiteracy.
Kukah said Nigeria “must try to combat illiteracy because there is no substitute for education and if we who are educated believe that we are secured then we must think again.”