Touching Story: Lack of Education Cripples Medical Ambition of Boy in IDP Camp

When the government continues to neglect the provision of proper education in refugee camps, its lack of long-term insights will irreversibly rebound on the sustainable development of Nigeria.

 

Master Aliyu

 

How a lack of education shatters the dreams of internally displaced children in Nigeria.

 

Aliyu (photo above), a 12-year old from Bama Local Government Area in Borno state, currently resides at an IDP camp in Durumi, Nigeria. He dreams of becoming a medical doctor in the future. Unfortunately, the lacking and deficient education facilities at the camp make it hardly possible for Aliyu to fulfil his dream.

 

On May 3rd, 2017, one of the schools at the camp built by a non-governmental organization was closed down due to a lack of funding. As a result, only a few teachers – driven by their ideals – remained, in order to provide the many children their much needed education.

 

Debola, a young teacher at the camp, underlines how the government neglects to facilitate proper education and facilities in the camp. In a bid to keep children in school, he provides them with some refreshments each time they attend his lessons. Despite his admirable efforts, together with the other remaining teachers, the sustainability of education in the camp is rather questionable.

 

 

Unfortunately, these findings are not uniquely attributable to the IDP camp in Durumi. In numerous other camps, nearly no education is found, which significantly complicates the future of the many children, residing in the camps.

 

Education is one of the most important cornerstones of a society, and tremendously important for the sustainable development of countries like Nigeria. Even further, education can be seen as a tool to lift displaced children out of their rather fragile and poor situations, assisting them to mentally process their often traumatized histories.

 

One of the few functional classrooms in the camp

 

When the government continues to neglect the provision of proper education in refugee camps, its lack of long-term insights will irreversibly rebound on the sustainable development of Nigeria.

 

 

Written for Peponi Project by Osayimwen Yvonne Etinosa.

 

She is a Freelance development photographer/writer with a passion for humanitarian work, travel enthusiast and visual story teller.