Controversial Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has charged the Federal Government of Nigeria to build schools for bandits.
Gatekeepers News reports that Buni stated this on Monday while on an inspection tour of Sheikh Uthman Bin Fodio Centre, a school built by Sheikh Gumi Mosque Foundation Limited, at Kagarko Grazing Reserve near Kohoto Village in Kaduna State.
“What motivated me to start this project was to solve the insecurity problem we have from the root because every crime has its perpetrators and every perpetrator are drawn from a pool. So, we want to go there and dry the pool and we found out that education is the best cure,” he said.
“If they are educated, they will not be doing what they are doing. So, we say we must take education to the grassroots and we embarked on the project to also be an example for others e.g local, state and federal governments, rich individuals and even cooperative societies to come together and make sure that we are directed across the forest to know what we can do to cater for nomads. It does not cost much. Very little and it will help to educate them and we will live peacefully with them.
He suggested that the billions of Naira the government spends on ammunition should be channelled into the building of schools for bandits.
He said most bandits he spoke to are ready to lay down their arms and embrace education.
According to him, education is the best strategy in preventing Fulani herdsmen from involving themselves in insecurity.
“Instead of spending billions on hardware, spend it on schools. I have spoken to lots of them, they have agreed to lay down their weapons and embrace education.”
He added: “What we have here is centre containing six classrooms that can be used for primary, secondary schools and at various times you can teach all categories at all times.
“The place will be engaged for 24 hours because the herdsmen usually take their cattle out by 10am and bring them back by dawn or sunset. So, they have two hours before they take their cattle away and we have two to three hours because we like to put some solar light so that they can read 8, 9, 10 in the night so that the herder can go and come back.
“We have schools, we have a hospital and we are also showing them how to grind the foliage which they can use to feed their animals. Some of them don’t need to go out because those things are so cheap and farmers are throwing those things away. Soon farmers will start charging for it. If we can duplicate this everywhere, Nigerians will live in peace.”
