By Bilesanmi Abayomi
Nigerians across social and political circles have continued to express strong and often divergent reactions to a recent opinion piece titled “US Airstrikes vs Schools: A Convenient Afterthought” by legal practitioner and public affairs analyst, Chief Malcolm Emokiniovovo Omirhobo. The piece challenges renewed calls for replacing military action against violent groups with educational interventions, arguing that such framing oversimplifies Nigeria’s deep-rooted governance and security failures.
The debate gained fresh momentum following comments attributed to Islamic cleric Ahmad Gumi, who reportedly urged the United States to invest in building schools for herdsmen rather than deploying a $2 million bomb. While the call was presented as a humanitarian alternative, critics contend that it overlooks Nigeria’s long history of misgovernance, unaccounted public funds and unresolved insecurity.
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Reacting to the controversy, Omoba Awofeso Rasheed criticised past and present leaders for what he described as the deliberate impoverishment of their people. He argued that successive governments failed to account for funds earmarked for development, thereby sowing the seeds of social instability now spreading beyond their original regions. According to him, communities should demand accountability from their leaders over how allocated resources were spent, noting that the consequences of neglect and corruption are no longer confined to one part of the country.
Another commentator, Ganiyu Olamiji Oyebanjo, popularly known as GOCO, adopted a more hardline position, insisting that education should not be used as a justification for terrorism. While acknowledging education as a fundamental right, he stressed that terrorism remains a crime and warned against prioritising the welfare of perpetrators over that of victims. He argued that rewarding violence with concessions sends a dangerous message, adding that thousands of children in Internally Displaced Persons camps have had their schools destroyed by insurgents, yet receive far less attention.
In his press statement, Chief Omirhobo maintained that narratives linking insecurity among herdsmen to lack of education are misleading and historically inaccurate. He noted that no ethnic group in Nigeria has ever been legally barred from accessing education and recalled the establishment of the Nomadic Education Programme, designed to serve pastoral communities through mobile schools and flexible learning systems. According to him, billions of naira have been allocated to the programme over the years without transparent audits or clear evidence of impact.
Omirhobo further referenced the Almajiri and nomadic schools constructed during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, many of which are now abandoned or repurposed, arguing that their fate underscores a deeper governance problem. He described them as proof that physical infrastructure alone does not translate to education without accountability, maintenance and effective oversight.
He also criticised Nigeria’s quota system and federal character principle, contending that these policies already structurally favour Northern interests in education and federal appointments, yet have failed to resolve insecurity. For him, presenting the issue as a binary choice between bombs or schools is false and intellectually dishonest, as terrorism thrives primarily on impunity, weak law enforcement and lack of accountability rather than the absence of classrooms.
While acknowledging the importance of education and security, Omirhobo insisted that accountability remains the missing link. He argued that calls for schools in the aftermath of airstrikes amount to deflection unless Nigeria confronts those who mismanaged education programmes, armed violent groups and benefited from prolonged instability.
As the debate continues to trend, it reflects wider public frustration over insecurity, governance failures and the struggle to identify sustainable solutions to terrorism in Nigeria.