Former President
Goodluck Jonathan says though the northern part of the country gave him the
least vote, his administration built 165 Almajiri integrated model schools
there.
He
said this while delivering the keynote address at a peace summit organised by
the Junior Chamber International (JCI) in Malaysia.
Jonathan
said he was inspired to construct the model schools to tackle the high rate of
illiteracy in the north.
“In
Nigeria, there were 10.5 million (about 15% of the population) out of school
children who were of school age, going by UNICEF figures, as at the time I
became president,” he said.
“Over
80% of these children for which majority are known as Almajiri came from the
northern part of Nigeria, where I recorded the least votes in the elections I
contested.
“Knowing
the value of education, I could see that the ugly situation was limiting the
opportunities of these children and negatively affecting the development of my
country. That was why my administration decided to build 165 Almajiri
Integrated Model Schools which combined both western and Islamic education in
its curricula.”
Jonathan
added that his conscience guided him all through the period he held
public office.
He
said this was the major reason he decided to concede the election to President
Muhammadu Buhari after losing in 2015.
“I
can confidently say that in all my public life, I was inspired to lead by
conscience. This is in agreement with my personal philosophy which I first
proclaimed while running for the office of the governor of my home state
Bayelsa in 2006, and re-echoed when I ran for the office of the president of
Nigeria in 2011 and 2015,” he said.
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