Fate of 10 Million Children Uncertain as Nigeria’s Religious Leaders Clash Over Education Initiative

Six-year-old Mohammed from Kano State, Nigeria, has never been able to have a normal childhood. While his peers enjoy a more regular upbringing, Mohammed earns his living by begging on the streets, having lost both his parents at a tender age.

Children playing in a pond in Warawa Local Government Area of Kano State, Nigeria, on Nov. 11, 2016. Toluwani Eniola/Special to The Epoch Times

LAGOS, Nigeria—Six-year-old Mohammed from Kano State, Nigeria, has never been able to have a normal childhood. While his peers enjoy a more regular upbringing, Mohammed earns his living by begging on the streets, having lost both his parents at a tender age.

But Mohammed began going to school for the first time on Jan. 8 this year, thanks to the intervention of a non-governmental organization that rescues out-of-school children and places them in formal educational institutions.