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Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger State has called for an end to the current practice of the almajiri system of seeking Islamic knowledge in places far away from the homes of underage children.
Governor Sani Bello stated this when he took delivery of items donated by the Nigeria Private Sector Coalition Against COVID-19, (CACOVID), a joint initiative of leading private sector leaders and the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) in Minna.
He maintained that it is a wrong practice that has been ongoing for the past 200 years where children of about three to five years are separated from their parents in supposed quest for religious knowledge.
“I feel it is absolutely wrong to separate a child, three, four, five years old from home, send him to a town where he has no one to take care of him and end up in the streets where he is abused. This is the worst form of human abuse you can think of. A child of three, four years must have parental guidance”, he stated.
The governor added that this is an era where parents should produce children they have ability and capability to cater for and desist from shying away from their responsibilities under the guise of sending them away to seek Islamic knowledge.
He noted that, with Islamic malams in virtually all wards in the country, children would be forced to seek any form of Islamic knowledge within their environment such that they receive parental care instead of leaving them for the society to take over their responsibilities. “So parents should own up to their responsibility of taking care of their children”, he said.
The governor is of the opinion that, with the support of the Northern Governors’ Forum, the age long practice of almajiri system being practised would soon be a thing of the past.
He disclosed that Niger State government is working on a policy through the affiliation of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) to streamline a system where the children will acquire both western and religious knowledge in their localities, thereby giving no room for parents to send their wards away from them.
He said before repatriating the almajirai to their states of origin, such states would be properly informed so that they receive them, give them proper care before reuniting them with their parents.
