For Lawson Osezuwa Eselebor, the image of desolation is that of an empty school, a scene repeated all too often in northern Nigeria, punished by violence, poverty, corruption, and religious and cultural traditions. “I work in a region where going to school is not a priority for either the children or their parents, but little by little we are trying to change things. Although this is not a sprint, it is a marathon,” explains the 43-year-old communicator, who has been running ProFuturo in the African country since 2017, a global digital education program run by Fundación Telefónica and Fundación “la Caixa”.
In Nigeria, the continent’s most populous country with a population of 200 million, around 10 million children under the age of 12 are out of school. According to Unicef, only 61% of children between the ages of six and eleven regularly attend primary school and only 35.6% of children between the ages of three and five receive pre-school education. In the north of the country, the prospects are even bleaker, with an average school attendance rate of 53%. The aim of this project is to encourage children to go to and return to the classroom. Reaching the most vulnerable areas of the country, it brings computers, tablets, training and educational innovation to public schools.
According to Unicef, only 61% of children between the ages of six and 11 regularly attend primary school and only 35.6% of children between the ages of three and five receive pre-school education.
The challenge is to make learning fun and different and to re-motivate the children. “We’re trying to improve the digital skills of these little ones who don’t go to school regularly and may have suffered attacks, been displaced, or are orphans and are completely alone,” Osezuwa explains to this newspaper during a recent visit to Madrid.
The ProFuturo project also provides pedagogical support and training for teachers to use these digital tools in their classrooms and how to facilitate their students’ access to technology. “It may seem normal in the more affluent regions of the country, but it wasn’t so here. The children had never seen a smartphone in their lives. Now when their parents are looking for them, they don’t want to leave school because they are motivated by learning. We see happy children, schools open on weekends and holidays, and that’s very nice,” says the program officer in Nigeria.
Lawson Osezuwa Eselebor, head of the ProFuturo project in Nigeria, in Madrid, May 2023Beatriz Lecumberri
The project, based on tech equipment sent from Spain and implemented jointly with the Kukah Centre, a Nigeria-based policy research institute, has already reached 123 public schools in the north of the country, representing more than 63,000 children and about 900 teachers. Now, ProFuturo in Nigeria wants to enter a phase of sustainability, that is, trying to get the schools to maintain the program autonomously and with minimal oversight, which has already been achieved in a dozen centers and the number continues to grow, according to the person in charge.
The children had never seen a smartphone in their lives. Now when their parents are looking for them, they don’t want to leave school because they are motivated by learning.
Lawson Osezuwa Eselebor, head of the digital education program ProFuturo in Nigeria
“Now we are also thinking about what will happen to the new government that has just taken office. What are your priorities? Health? Education?” recalls the Nigerian communicator.
go to school to eat
The insecurity in northern Nigeria, the scene of the Boko Haram insurgency, played a major role in the establishment of this project. The terrorist group has attacked and closed schools, abducted girls and prevented families from sending their children to school.
“There are elementary schools that are destroyed and empty and others where we see 200 children and a single teacher. How can this teacher be productive? It’s tough, but we can’t blame them. We are talking about people who had to flee their homes because of attacks. Many of them would like to return to their homes but cannot because it is not safe there, the roads are dangerous and there are terrorists who may have taken over their homes,” Osezuwa explains.
Education and the infrastructure that supports it will need to continue to grow in the years to come to keep pace with population growth in Nigeria, where half the population is currently under the age of 18. According to Unicef data, the African country currently accounts for 20% of all births in Africa and 5% of all births worldwide, but by 2050 one in 13 births worldwide will be in Nigeria.
On the other hand, Osezuwa points out that in a country where the average monthly salary is around $100 a month but can drop to $20 in northern areas, there are many parents who cannot provide for the family’s needs or send them to school . to his children. “And when they leave, they often do so because they give them something to eat, but that doesn’t matter. If they learn something and like walking, we’re satisfied,” he assures.
Of particular concern is the situation of girls in northern Nigeria, who are dropping out of school due to poverty, insecurity and cultural practices, including child marriage. More than half of Nigerian girls are out of school, according to Unicef. “Women in the north are not listened to, their choices are not taken into account or respected. In this context, there are parents who do not send their daughters to school because they will get married when they are 12 or 13 years old. So why invest in them? It is true that in my country there are many women in positions of responsibility, but they come mainly from the South, where there are many more opportunities,” she affirms.
The ProFuturo program has reached 27 million children and 1.3 million teachers in more than 40 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Africa. “We’re a drop in the bucket, but a drop counts,” admits Osezuwa. “If we are able to change the life of just one student, the transformation is already underway because we took that child off the streets or from a life without college and they will be talking about it with their family and friends.”
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