By Chikezie Omeje
Hudu Adamu is a seven-year-old Class 2 pupil of J/Tsada Special Primary School in Dutse Local Government Area of Jigawa State. Sitting among his peers under a Dogoyaro tree outside the school, he is faced with a sudden challenge. He has just been asked to recite English alphabet by a senior pupil. He steps out of his seat on the tree’s ruptured roots, smiling shyly and hesitantly, and hiding his face from the observers.
Two secondary school leavers who speak passable English among the group nudge Adamu to respond to the challenge. “A, B, C, D E, F,” Adamu begins uneasily but stops abruptly. All eyes are on him but the noise of the passing motorcycle defl ects the tension and aff ords him a moment to comport himself. With a worried smile, he starts all over again and mumbles incoherently after the letter “F”. On his third attempts, he succeeds in adding letter “G” but mumbles thereafter. Disappointed by Adamu’s failure, one of the secondary school leavers points to another child, Narisu Nuhu to recite the English alphabet. Unfortunately, Nuhu is as bad as Adamu.
Th ey both continue to try but make no progress beyond letter “G”. Nuhu is in Primary 3 in the same school and is a year older than Adamu. Th ere are three other children among the group playing nearby along a dusty road to Dutse town. Th ese ones are not in school despite having a school just a stone throw away from their homes. By Nigerian educational standard, both Adamu and Nuhu are expected to be able to read simple words in English as pupils in primary school are taught in English, Nigeria’s lingua franca. Th eir inability to recite the alphabet which is the basis for learning how to read in English may be a sign of cognitive defi ciency. Adamu and Nuhu appear to be too short for their age, an indication that they are stunted. Stunting is an indication of chronic under-nutrition, which is caused by a prolonged period of hunger or disease. Stunting which refl ects a failure to grow in stature also causes mental growth retardation. Scientifi c evidence shows that stunted children are more likely to have cognitive defi ciencies and poor learning outcomes. A report by the Save the Children shows that malnourished children score 7% lower in mathematics tests, are 19% less likely to be able to read at age 8 and are 13% less likely to be in the appropriate grade for their age than those who are well nourished.
Th e fi rst 1,000 days of a child’s life, from conception to two years of age, are very critical. It is considered that a baby who lacks essential nourishment during this period that the brain is developing rapidly With one-third of children under the age of fi ve stunted due to nutritional defi ciencies, Nigeria faces an explosion of children with poor schooling outcomes. School age children pose for a shot at Dutse, Jigawa state Features may have mental retardation that is irreversible. Scientists believe that stunted children grow into adults with irreversible losses in human capital that also contribute to future losses in economic productivity. Adamu and Nuhu are growing up in a state which has the highest rate of stunting among children less than fi ve years of age and there is a probability that malnutrition is the main cause why children in the state are less likely to go to school or perform well in school. National Nutrition and Health Survey, NNHS 2015, shows that 63 per cent of under-fi ve children is stunted in Jigawa State.
Th is alarming fi gure of stunting is also refl ecting in the schooling outcomes in the state. If Adamu and Nuhu are growing up in the southern part of the country where stunting rate is less than 25 per cent among underfi ve children, they are more likely to do well in school as clearly shown in the 2015 Nigeria Education Data Survey, NEDS. Schooling outcomes are very abysmal in states where malnutrition is high. In Jigawa State, 83 per cent of school-age children from 5 to 16 years cannot read. Th is high level of illiteracy is also common to all the states in the North West and North East where child malnutrition is almost twice the national average. Apart from literacy, comprehension and numeracy are extremely low in the states with a high number of stunted children. In Jigawa State, only 9 per cent of school-age children can understand what they are taught and 85 per cent of them are unable to solve basic numeracy. Schooling outcomes are much better in the southern part of the country. In Anambra State, which has the least rate of stunting at 7 per cent, illiteracy among school-age children is 28 per cent. Comprehension is also high at 47 per cent and it is only 22 per cent of school-age children that are unable to solve basic numeracy in Anambra State. Both Adamu and Nuhu are in the appropriate grade for their age but they are not showing evidence of learning. Offi cial school age in Nigeria is six years and Adamu who is in Grade 2 is seven-year-old while Nuhu who is eight-year-old is in Grade 3. “What usually is the problem is that people who are malnourished remain like that. Th ey have permanent brain retardation.
Th ey have what we call cognitive defi ciencies. Th ey are not able to catch up as adults,” Kabiru Ibrahim, the Executive Secretary of Jigawa State Primary Health Care Development Agency told icirnigeria.org. Th e 2016 school enrolment data by the Jigawa State Ministry of Education shows nearly one million students in both primary and secondary schools in the state but performance in external examinations is abysmal compared to states with low stunting rate. “When we are presenting people who have fi ve credits in WAEC, here we are presenting 11 per cent. Abia presented 81 per cent,” says Ibrahim. Surprisingly, the state’s ministry of education in its 2016 report listed poor quality of teachers, overcrowded classrooms and poor infrastructure as the main factors for the pupils’ poor school performance without mentioning malnutrition. Malnutrition and schooling outcomes Malnutrition is mainly caused by insuffi cient nutrient intake and a study shows that food insecurity is linked to specifi c developmental consequences for children. “
If you don’t eat well, what can you do well? It aff ects all lifestyles,” says Ado Ibrahim, the Head of Primary Health Centre, Sokwaya Ward in Dutse Local government Area of Jigawa State, adding that malnutrition is a major challenge in the state. It is not just a coincidence that Jigawa State which has the highest rate of stunting also has the highest rate of illiterate school age children or the regions which have a high level of malnutrition also have worst schooling performance. With 63 per cent rate of stunting, NEDS indicates that literacy and comprehension among school-age children in the state is just 9 per cent while numeracy is 7 per cent.
Net attendance ratio among primary school pupils is 53 per cent while gross attendance ratio is 71 per cent. But malnutrition aff ects all the states in the federation. One-third of Nigerian children who are under the age of fi ve years are stunted. Stunting rate in the country is 32 per cent but there is a huge regional diff erence. Th e seven states in the North West have the highest cases of malnutrition with 55 per cent of children being stunted. Despite the Boko Haram crisis in the North East, the region is still ahead of North West as 43 per cent of children are stunted. Just as malnutrition is higher in North West and North East, the two zones also have the highest level of illiteracy among school-age children in the country. In both regions, 72 per cent of school-age children from 5 to 16 years are illiterates. Th e North Central, where nutrition is better than the other two northern regions, also has better outcomes in school performance and learning. Stunting is 30 per cent in the region and this also refl ects in literacy as 44 per cent of schoolage children are literates, compared 29 per cent in other two northern regions. Th e southern part of the country where stunting is less than 25 per cent shows a remarkable level of literacy among school-age children but there is a curious variation.
While the South East has the least rate of malnutrition, it does not have the highest percentage of literate children. However, the region leads in external examinations like West African Examination Council, WAEC. Stunting among children in the South East is 12 per cent while illiteracy among school age children is 39 per cent, although illiteracy in Anambra State is 28 per cent among school-age children. Th e South West, which follows the South East in the least rate of stunting at 17 per cent, has the lowest level of illiteracy at 26 per cent. In the same vein, the South South has 20 per cent rate of stunting and second least rate of illiteracy at 28 per cent. Perhaps, Lagos and Rivers states account for this signifi cant decline in illiteracy in both regions as they have 11 and 14 per cents respectively, far above the averages in the regions. Moreover, the pattern of malnutrition clearly refl ects in the primary school attendance ratio. Th e South East having the least stunted children has the highest school attendance ratio of 85 per cent, followed by South West and South South at 83 per cent. However the North West and North East
