What govt can do about Almajiri crisis –ACF, NEF, ATT

…Say practice has been corrupted, can’t be tackled overnight

• Northern leaders have not done enough –Sani, Ex-ACF Scribe

From Noah Ebije, Kaduna

Notable Northern socio-cultural bodies, Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Arewa Think Tank (ATT), Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), as well as BOT member and former Secretary General of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Mr. Anthony Sani have poured out their hearts about the problem of Almajiri in Northern Nigeria.

Responding to views now gaining traction in some quarters that the Almajiri problem has somehow been tolerated and sustained in the north, these stakeholders laid blame on former leaders from the North, who presided over the affairs of the country in the recent past with little or no commitment to better the lot of the Islamic students, commonly known as Almajiri in the Northern part of the country. 

The Spokesman of NEF, Prof. Abubakar Jika Jiddere, told Sunday Sun that the Almajiri system has been corrupted by parents hiding under the Islamic school system to send their wards to go begging on the streets, adding that Islam forbids begging.

Also, the Convener, Arewa Think Tank, Muhammad Alhaji Yakubu, noted with facts and figures that only Nigerian presidents of Southern extraction gave serious empowerment to the funding of the Almajiri education, while their Northern counterparts looked the other way over the years.

Specifically, Yakubu picked former President Goodluck Jonathan and the incumbent President Bola Tinubu as the heroes of Almajiri education system by taking it to higher level with attendant concern and care over the years.

The Spokesman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Prof. Tukur Muhammad-Baba, attached socio-political and economic crisis as factors weighing down the progress of Almajiri education, adding that the issue cannot be resolved overnight.

In his own reaction, the former Secretary General of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), and current member of the BOT of the Forum, Mr. Anthony Sani, viewed the issue of Almajiri as being too enormous for Northern leaders to handle it alone, hence they could not have done enough about the issue.

His words: “To start with, begging is contrary to Islamic law. The word Almajiri simply means student. It is derived from an Arabic word ‘Majirun’. Historically, scholars or learners used to travel to other centres of leaning far from their original homes. Their host communities usually take the responsibility of feeding them.

“From there, the practice was corrupted and some people now hide behind poverty to send their children for the purpose of begging. Coming to the question of Northern elders, there are serious challenges in managing the Almajiri issue which are too numerous to mention here.”

The Convener of Arewa Think Tank (ATT), Muhammad Alhaji Yakubu, said: “I will speak on the efforts made by former President Goodluck Jonathan on Almajiri education, and what President Bola Tinubu is doing now about the same Almajiri education in the North. Both Jonathan and Tinubu are from the Southern part of the country.

“Now, let’s look at it this way, during President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, the Almajiri Education Programme was introduced to integrate Western education into the Islamic education system, aiming to reduce the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria. It is worthy of note that the administration of Jonathan built 165 Almajiri integrated model schools across the North, combining both Western and Islamic education in their curricula.

“The objective was to make Almajiri children employable and help them become productive members of the society, rather than feeling rejected. And of course, the programme primarily targeted the Northern region, where a significant number of out-of-school children resided.

“The schools were built with varying models, including day and boarding facilities, and were handed over to state governments through the State Universal Basic Education Boards (SUBEBs).

Some of the states that benefited from the Almajiri schools programme include Sokoto where six schools were built under former President Jonathan. The schools include: Model Boarding Tsangaya Primary School, Gagi Sokoto Local Government Area. Katsina State got seven schools including Model Tsangaya Primary School, Batsari LGA. In Kaduna State, six schools, including Makarantar Mal Yusuf Labar at Igabi LGA; Kano State has six schools, including Model Day Tsangaya Primary School, Gaya, Gaya LGA. And Bauchi State has seven schools, including Tsangaya Magayaki Gwaram, in Alkaleri LGA.

It is painful to note that despite the efforts made during Jonathan’s administration, many of these schools have been abandoned. However, the current administration, President Tinubu has initiated plans to reclaim and rehabilitate them.

Continuing, Yakubu said: “So to this end, President Tinubu in March 2024 appointed a new leadership team for the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education in, tasking them with ensuring comprehensive education for Nigeria’s out-of-school children. He expects the new appointees to leverage their vast experience to manage the commission effectively and prioritize the nation’s future. Tinubu’s administration has engaged with stakeholders, including northern leaders, to address the Almajiri crisis. A recent summit in Kaduna highlighted the need for substantial investment in education and equitable resource distribution to tackle regional imbalances. So I don’t see any reason why our leaders should lay blame at the door step of President Tinubu’s government for the failure of Almajiri education system in the North.”

Reacting to comments recently made by some northern leaders on the Almajiri issue, some people in some informal conversations asserted that the northern leaders were essentially shedding crocodile tears over the issue given the history of obstruction and non-commitment to ending the almajiri practice. In response to this, National Publicity Secretary of ACF, Tukur Muhammad-Baba, in his submission on the issue said: “Whoever says Northern leaders are shedding crocodile tears because they created the problem and have consistently sustained it, is viewing it from a shallow understanding of the phenomenon.

“Certainly, a lot more could have been done, and there’s a lot more that needs to be done, to tackle the phenomenon. However, the phenomenon is one with a history and a context, a system-embedded one involving a mix of economic, social, and political factors, relating to knowledge, enlightenment, family orientation, population dynamics, economic circumstances, availability of schooling facilities, direction of public policy response to societal needs, to least a few. The solution isn’t one that can be tackled overnight as some people appear to think. Proverbially blaming the “northern elite” is a blanket statement, an exaggeration, lacking in specificity and a convenient replacement for lack of rigour.”

Anthony Sani said, “One can say northern leaders have not done enough in curbing the almajiri challenges, but given the enormity of the problems, it is most unfair of anybody to say northern leaders created the almajiri phenomenon.

Almajiri has been part of the mechanism of community living in the North for many ages. As a result, people did not see it as a problem to society until some of the almajiri became cannon fodder for the insurgents about two decades ago.

Now that the almajiri are the out of school children who can become tomorrow’s Boko Haram due to poverty and ignorance, there is the need for them to go to school and be educated as the only means of empowering them.

Unfortunately, the cost of getting all the children to school in the North is overwhelming, considering the limited resources in a developing country. You know being a third world country is not a matter of choice but of capacity.

Almajiri or out of school children is a serious national challenge which is of real concern that should be tackled by national government and not by northern leaders alone. This is because Nigeria can be likened to a big river being fed by tributaries. If one or more tributaries is poisoned, the whole river is contaminated.”