Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, the Labour Party’s Vice-Presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, has criticized President Bola Tinubu’s advisory against establishing schools in remote areas.

Speaking in an interview on ‘Prime Time’, a programme on Arise Television on Thursday, Baba-Ahmed described the remark as “totally wrong.”

The comment comes after President Tinubu urged state governments to reconsider building boarding schools in remote or poorly protected areas, citing the increasing risks to students.

His advisory followed a series of mass kidnappings of schoolchildren and teachers in Niger, Kebbi, and other parts of the country in recent days.

Reacting, Baba-Ahmed said, “For the Commander-in-Chief to say stop building schools in remote areas, I would say continue building. I’m not contradicting the commander-in-chief, but this is a statement that is very wrong.

“I wish it were possible to prevent all these incidents from the start, but wishful thinking is not reality. I hope President Tinubu quickly reconsiders, withdraws that statement, and corrects himself.

“He should encourage the building of schools. If I had the resources, I would invest in schools in rural areas. Stopping such initiatives is counterproductive because, in this situation, attack is the best form of defense.

“We in the education sector are fighting a battle for the country that many do not recognize, and it is as critical as the work of the Armed Forces.

“So, for the Commander-in-Chief to advise against building schools in rural areas is wrong.”