Former Governor of Niger State, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, has raised concerns about the effectiveness of border closures in Nigeria while also highlighting the dire state of education in northern states.
Speaking at the 22nd Daily Trust Dialogue held at the NAF Conference Centre in Abuja on Thursday, Aliyu questioned the rationale behind the policy, stating that it had not stopped Nigerian goods from finding their way into other ECOWAS countries.
“What is the importance of closing borders?” he asked.
“What is the importance of that while the population of Nigeria is almost the population of other ECOWAS members? And every market you go to in ECOWAS countries, you will discover that more than half of the things in that market are from Nigeria.
He noted that goods such as cows remain cheaper in neighboring Niger than in Nigeria, despite inflation..
“For example, in Niger, the cow is still cheaper than in Nigeria. Apart from the inflation, it has always been like that because we used to send people there on good days to get these cows either for slaughter or Sallah. Why is this so? Please, do what you have to do.”
Aliyu also turned attention to education, lamenting the lack of qualified teachers in northern Nigeria.
“The second thing I am pursuing is education. In the northern states, there is no state with 50% qualified teachers,” he said.
He emphasized the need to use federal universities to address the issue.
“Use federal universities of agriculture and universities of education to educate people. We need education to have people who are passionate about a particular thing,” he added.
Aliyu emphasized the urgent need for improved education to address the region’s developmental challenges.
