Repentant Boko Haram Terrorists To Enjoy Foreign Education Through TETFUND, UBEC – Senate Bill

The Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) will provide part of the fund for the proposed agency for the rehabilitation of insurgents in the north-east.

Naija News reports that the bill entitled ‘Establishment of the National Agency for the Education, Rehabilitation, De-radicalisation and Integration of Repentant Insurgents in Nigeria and for Other Connected Purposes’ passed first reading at the Senate last week Thursday.

According to information gathered, one per cent of TETFund and UBEC fund will be used in funding the agency for rehabilitating the terrorists.

It will be recalled that the controversial bill is being sponsored by Ibrahim Gaidam, a former governor of Yobe State and current senator representing Yobe East in the upper chamber of the National Assembly.

Justifying the need for the bill, Gaidam disclosed that many of the terrorists and insurgents are willing to repent and surrender but are scared of the consequences that may follow.

The Senator added that the move will also give an alternative option to the military onslaught against the Boko Haram and other insurgents.

According to a report by Punch, the commission will also be funded by 0.5 percent of the federal allocation to the six states in the north-east.

The six North-East states are Borno, Bauchi, Yobe, Adamawa, Taraba and Gombe.

“The agency shall establish and maintain a fund which will consist of initial take-off grant from the federal government; annual subvention from the government; states counterpart funding which will be deducted at source at 0.5 percent of their statutory allocation; 1 percent of the education Tax Fund (TETFund) and UBEC fund,” section 10 of the bill reportedly reads.

The bill also makes provision for the agency to be funded by grants, gifts, endowments, and donations.

Furthermore, section 5 of the bill also provides for foreign education for repentant insurgents.

“The agency shall implement programmes geared towards the rehabilitation of beneficiaries, engage the services of offshore and Nigerian institutions in the pursuit of the educational needs of ex-agitators.”

The proposed agency is expected to coordinate a comprehensive programme in the area of disarmament, demobilisation, rehabilitation and reintegration.

It will also coordinate the efforts of all relevant stakeholders towards the attainment of set objectives as regards job placement, internship and sustainable reintegration.

The bill provides that the chairman of the board of the agency will be appointed by the president subject to the confirmation of the senate while the governing council of the agency will have one representative from each of the north-east states, one representative each of the stakeholders, three representatives of the impacted communities, one person from the army, air force, navy, police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps — all of whom must not be below the rank of lieutenant colonel.

The council will also have one representative each from the federal ministries of humanitarian affairs, finance, environment, petroleum resources, North-East Development Commission and the local content board.

Meanwhile, as earlier reported by this online medium, more ‘repentant’ Boko Haram members that just arrived in Nigeria from the Niger Republic have been received in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

They arrived Maiduguri airport in a military aircraft in the company of soldiers led by Major General Bamidele Shafa, coordinator of the Federal Government Safe Corridor programme.

This news is coming a few weeks after it was reported that the return of 1,400 repentant Boko Haram members into the society in Borno State has attracted ‘worrying’ reactions from some soldiers.

The disappointed soldiers lamented that the government is releasing ‘killers’ that they had previously captured back into the society.