Effects of pattern of settlement of nomadic Fulanis on the education of their children in Niger State.

Abstract

The study was conducted in Niger State as two LGAs were purposively selected from agricultural Zones I, II and III. It investigated the effect of pattern of the settlement of Nomadic Fulani’s on the children education. Seventy respondents were randomly selected for the study. A well-structured interview schedule was used for eliciting information from the respondents. the result shows that majority of the respondents (82.9%) were still in their active age and about 64.3% were male. The study also reveals that 42.9% of the respondents attended quranic school and majority (84.3%) had been in the profession of nomadism for 10-49 years, 94.3% of them lived in temporal settlement and majority (74.3%) lived between 1 – 2 months in such temporal settlements. Majority (84.3%) of the respondents preferred mobile schools for their children and majority agreed that nomadic education has improved their social interaction and increase their access to livestock services with mean scores of 2.94 and 2.83 respectively. Also, majority (98.0%) of the nomadic teachers agreed that the pattern of settlement of nomadic fulani’s significantly affect the education of their children. It is recommended that the pattern of nomadic fulani’s settlement should be modified and the whole nomadic education system should be re-organized to suit the mobile culture of the nomads and their children.