- It was not too rosy for a top northern senator as he narrated his journey to bag a formal education
- The lawmaker representing the Borno North Senatorial District, Tahir Monguno, disclosed that life was so difficult that he had to drop out of school to become a commercial bus driver
- Interestingly, he disclosed that he became a bus driver so that he could impress a young girl in his community while he was struggling
Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.
FCT, Abuja – The senator representing Borno North Senatorial District, Tahir Monguno, narrated how he dropped out of school while acquiring his primary education because he wanted to be attractive to girls in his community.
Photo credit: Abubakar Sadiq Konto Ahmed
Source: Facebook
He dropped out of school to impress girls
Monguno, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said a traditional practice influenced his decision to drop out from school in his community where girls prefer to mingle and dance with men who are commercial drivers during a festive season.
As reported by PremiumTimes, he noted that to become one of the favourites for the girls to dance and have fun with, he dropped out of school while in primary seven and started a commercial driving job within his community.
Mr Monguno recounted his experience on Wednesday, March 20, at the Senate session while contributing to a motion sponsored by Adebule Oluranti (APC, Lagos West) on the need to find a solution to the increasing number of out-of-school children in Nigeria.
“I now said okay, if that is the case, let me also go and be a driver so that when we line up for festivities, girls will also come and invite me to dance with them. So, because of that, Mr President, I dropped out of school,” he said.
Mr Monguno, now a trained lawyer, said he was lucky to have returned to school because one of his uncles insisted that he must attain western education.
“But because of the persistent and the consistency of my late uncle of blessed memory whom I grew up with, I finished my secondary school, primary school, went to the university, went to law school, called to the bar, became an accountant general, five times member of House of Representatives and now a distinguished Senator,” he added.
Mr Monguno narrated the story of his early life to underscore the disadvantages of children quitting formal education to pursue other interests.
As reported by Nigerian Tribune, the countless children denied access to education affect both the current generation and the nation’s future prosperity.
Monguno, who said education remained the best weapon for human development, added that after leaving school, he not only became a successful lawyer and a member of the House of Representatives for three terms but was also a senator today.
6 factors contributing to out-of-school children challenge
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that Abdulrahman Ado, an education specialist at the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Bauchi field office, said Nigeria contributes about 15 percent to the number of out-of-school children globally.
Ado stated that Bauchi state has the highest number of out-of-school children in the northeast region.
He explained that according to a Nigeria Education Data Survey (NEDS) report of 2018, Nigeria is unlikely to achieve Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs 4, adding that the country still maintains the enrollment figures of 1995 of 60 percent.
Source: Legit.ng
