VISIT TO BAGA, AFTER THE GAGA

“Bye sir!” Jibril was running ahead into the distance. It was hard for me to imagine how he could be running……The sandy soil was incredibly hot and extended all the way to what looked like a lake in the distance. It was not a lake…it was a mirage.

“He wants to be a doctor,” said his mother, who was walking next to me. “His sister does not know yet. She is just above 1 year old, still straddled on her mothers back…..”

When I came home from my visit to Borno state, where I met Jibril Abdullahi Shettima in Baga in Kukawa Local Government Area, I could not stop thinking about him. He is 6, and he wants to be a doctor.

Jibril was born to a family of fishermen and irrigation farmers. Nine months of the year he lives with thirteen family members in a makeshift hut made out of baked mud with zinc roofing sheets. The rest of the year the family moves around in the state capital looking for casual labor opportunities. Even after two sources of income which suppose to lift them out of the poverty line, the family's per capita income is still below NGN200 a day. This despite the fact that well over half the fishes eaten in Borno is caught in the lake surrounding the town, much of it by families like Jibril’s.

To fetch water, the women in the family walk all the way to the closest village, through the desert, with only the scorching sun keeping them company. The only good thing is that it provides the much need heat to dry the excess fish not sold, and also gives them a little power for their solar lanterns, so Jibril does have light to study. It is just that the lanterns is now aged and doesn’t last the 4 hours it was advertised to last, and to buy a new one would evaporate another 40% of the family monthly revenue.

Although, the government is working hard to organize opportunities and security for Jibril and others like him to go to school, so, yes, he does have a fighting chance to become a doctor. And if you see the boy in the picture, I think you will agree with me that he will have a good fight in him. It will be a fight against very long odds. Most boys with the same odds will not become doctors. In fact, most of them will remain poor, dead or become easy target for terrorists’ recruitment programs.

I do not want any of us to promise Jibril that he will be a doctor. Maybe he won’t even want that when he grows up. But I do want all of us working on development in Nigeria, government and partners; to promise Jibril that we will do what it takes to make sure he will not be poor or becoming a victim of the burgeoning terrorism when he turns 18 in 2025.

I believe the World Bank’s new goal to end extreme poverty by 2030 can be achieved by all of us working together. And I know that to reach the goal, Nigerians will have to think very differently. We will also have to work differently, collaborating closely with many partners, including committed grassroots poverty alleviation organizations and their likes. When we do this thinking and partnering, let us have Jibril and his sister in mind. First step: Let’s see how we can improve their nutrition. Second step: Let’s make sure they get to school. Third step: a solar-powered system which can last up to 12 hours. With many more steps to follow, Jibril and his sister should not be victims of poverty or terrorism in 2030!