Burnawa: Sokoto com+munity where pupils learn under trees

The village, which is said to have been in existence since the days of Usmanu Danfodiyo, is heavily pupulated.  It is located some 30 minutes drive from the state capital. The majority of the people are farmers, there are few businessmen in the area.   The villagers lamented that since the last   12 years of […]

The village, which is said to have been in existence since the days of Usmanu Danfodiyo, is heavily pupulated.  It is located some 30 minutes drive from the state capital. The majority of the people are farmers, there are few businessmen in the area.

 

The villagers lamented that since the last   12 years of democratic rule in the state, they never experienced its dividends. “The only thing we see is during elections period when ballot boxes are taken to the communities, just for us to vote and that is all .Whenever you see government officials here, it is election period, but immediately after the conduct of the election, you will not see them again. What surprises us most is that our village is very close to Sokoto metropolis yet we have no basic amenities”, they cried out.

The village head, Alhaji Bello Magaji, bemoaned that the village is really in hardship for lack of road network, electricity, and portable water etc. It is only one dug well that exists in the village, likewise we have never had any western or Islamic school since the era of the Second Republic, built under the leadership of President Shehu Shagari when  one block in the school was constructed but  had collapsed for past two years ago. An Islamic school had never been constructed for us. Thus, our children learn under trees.”

According to him, in the whole of the village, only one person studied and reached position of a headmaster. According to him, most of the children are not encouraged to complete their education because there is no school in the area. “Those who proceed to junior secondary school go to another village, Durbawa”, he said.

Malam Sambo Abubakar Burnawa, one of the three teachers in the village, had this to say: “I spent 32-years teaching children in this village. After the collapse of the classes, we have been teaching under trees. At present, we have classes 1-3 and there are 40 pupils in class one, 30 in class two and 50 in class three. They take turns to learn under the tree.

We have three teachers, including the headmaster. We are really in dire need of schools in the area, not just primary school, but also secondary school, for any pupil that successfully completes his primary level to get easy access to secondary education”.

Malam Shehu Burnawa, an elder of the village added “we don’t even know our councilor and the local government chairman but our   main appeal to the concerned authorities is to come to our aid in providing the basic necessities of life, such as electricity, portable water, schools, and road networks among others.”

When contacted for comments on the situation in the village, chairman of Kware Local Government Area, Alhaji Abubakar Zamau, said his council never received a single complaint from the people of the village.

Alhaji Zamau said it was the first time of knowing the problems faced by the village.

He, however, promised that very soon the local government council would look into the yearnings and aspirations of the Burnawa community with a view to finding solution to.

The chairman expressed the readiness of the council to drill boreholes and construct dispensaries in the village. On the electrification, Zamau said the council would soon forward a request to the Sokoto state government while a request will also be sent to the Universal Basic Education for the construction of primary and junior secondary schools in the village.