Atiku Mohammed, 18- Knowledge brings progress

Atiku Mohammed is an 18-year old merchant in Shagari local government area of Sokoto state. Though Atiku graduated from an Islamic school, he could not read or write.

“I wanted to learn to read and write, but I did not know in what ways it will be useful to me,” Atiku admits.

When the Northern Education Initiative Plus opened a Youth Learning Center in his community, he saw an opportunity to experience formal education.

In the last two months, he has attended classes consistently learning math, literacy and life skills. In his spare time, he practices writing and reading and tries to form words and sentences.

Atiku is also discovering that his newly acquired skills are benefitting his business. By learning to read and write, he realizes he had cheated himself out of several opportunities.

“Many times people will come to my shop and ask to buy certain things and I will tell them I did not have them. Now I realize I did have some of them but because they called a name that was not familiar and I could not read, I sent them away,” he says.

His father, Suleiman Dan’Ashibi, is also a new convert. He will have wished Atiku combined Islamic and formal education but “it is never too late.”

He is willing to support his son to further his education while growing his business.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“Knowledge brings progress,” he says.[/perfectpullquote]

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