How Almajiri system reform can reduce insecurity

…As northern leaders express worry over worsening situation

State governments across the Northern states seem scaling up drastic measures to root out the seemingly intractable Almajiri system across the region, as more insecurity, social ills, and crimes are linked to the menace.

The argument that the larger population of the Boko Haram fighters was made up of the Almajiri street urchins swarming locations in the Northeast, and conscripted into the terror group, still holds as the now 12 years old terror endures.

These street urchins are also said to have constituted the larger population of the youth who participated in the #EndBadGovernance protests, which swept across some states of the country in August this year. This led to the arrest and remand of majority of them, which, allegedly, resulted in the death of some of them, which was discovered during their recent trial for treason before the court of law.

Borno, which has borne the brunt of the Boko Haram insurgency, is consequently, among the states that have tightened measures against the menace, with the state Governor, Babagana Zulum, recently announcing a drastic reform to the Almajiri system.

Henceforth, according to the reform plan, every child entering Borno State for whatever reason must be accompanied by his parent or guardian to ensure that someone takes responsibility for whatever happens to him.

After the violence that attended the nationwide hunger protest in Borno, Zulum said that while his administration is not discouraging the Almajiri education, a situation where thousands of children are living in the state without care from anyone in the name of almajiri must be looked into.

The August protest turned violence, as many minors, mostly almajiris between the ages of 9-15, took over the Maiduguri-Kano Road vandalising public property.

Thus, speaking further during a statewide broadcast at the weekend, Governor Zulum, who lifted the curfew imposed on the state following the return of normalcy, corroborated the police commissioner and said that 95% of those who participated in the protest were children aged 14 who don’t even know why they are protesting.

“A 6-year-old child carrying a placard is exceptional; someone must have directed him. Most of those children are not from Borno State. While we are not discouraging almajiri education, children must have their teachers, parents, or guardians looking after them.

“A situation where thousands of children living in Maiduguri without care from anyone in the name of almajiri must be looked into. I wish to equally express my sympathy to all the innocent people who were affected by the violent protest, vandalism, and looting of properties,” the governor said.

Zulum spoke at a two-day summit on Tsangaya education reforms, expressing the need for stakeholders to embrace initiatives that will ensure the preservation of this age-old system while adapting it to modern needs.

The two-day summit brought together Islamic scholars, researchers, traditional rulers, politicians, and experts in Arabic Languages to cross-fertilise ideas and generate reforms for the Tsangaya education system in the state.

Zulum, acknowledging the importance of education in addressing the root causes of insecurity in the state, attributed the emergence of the Boko Haram insurgency to inappropriate teaching of Islam. He emphasized the need to address the root causes of insecurity through the provision of education for all Borno citizens.

He noted that to curtail the adverse effects associated with Almajiri education, the Borno State Government has established the Arabic and Tsangaya Education Board and introduced a unified curriculum for Tsangaya and Islamic schools.

Zulum also stated that the reform includes establishing higher Islamic Colleges that cater specifically to Almajiri children, blending religious and secular curricula and equipping them with skills vital for their personal development and future employment opportunities.

He described the Tsangaya Reform as a significant development that will provide Almajiri children with a better chance in life, particularly the integration of Western education, vocational, numeracy, and literacy skills into the centers, also known as Almajiri and Islamic schools.

“The Tsangaya Reform is a great development and will give Almajiri a better chance in life, particularly the introduction of integrating western education, vocational, numeracy and literacy skills into the centres, which are also described as Almajiri and Islamic schools,” Zulum said.

He added, “Distinguished guests and esteemed educationists, government’s intention was to streamline the informal and formal education systems to quality integrated Tsangaya school for admission into colleges and universities.”

Zulum charged the participants to develop modalities to discourage and eliminate street begging, calling on educationists to embrace reforms in the Tsangaya system.

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Experts revealed that looking at the history in the past, the leaders across the Northern states responsible for taking care of the Almajiri/Tsangaya systems of education including funding and control, but over time, especially when the Europeans conquered Africa, Nigeria, and the northern part in the world, that support was not given, and that was how the problem started.

Muhammadu Mustapha Gwadabe, a professor at the Ahmadu Bello University Department of History and Centre for democratic development, research, and training in Zaria who presented a paper on the factors contributing to the deterioration of the Tsangaya system and the need for relevant stakeholders to engage in sensitisation campaigns in mosques and on mass media.

He frowned at the notion people tend to have towards Almajiri education, noting that Qur’anic education is not about begging, but it is about learning the knowledge of the Quran to talk about the issue along the line, something is like the there was a kind of lack of understanding about it.

“A lot of things have happened now, which have made it a bit of concern, whereby smaller kids are sent to places far away without giving any support, and that’s why they have to go out.

You see, to be frank as it is today, it has become a problem, but can this be understood if you look at the history and look at what happened to the almajiri education, it is a system of education. It’s not about begging. It’s about learning the Qur’anic as a Muslims.

“But is a system of education whereby younger ones learn to meet the Quran, because in Islam, you have to know the Quran to pray, and we pray five times every day. So, to do that, you have to learn the Quran. That is why parents, at an early age, used to encourage their own kids to go and learn the Quran,” he said.

He underscored the importance of bold steps taking by the Borno State Government to reform Almajiri/Tsangaya Education to ensure they bring sanity to the systems and flush out those unscrupulous individuals hiding under the guise of Islam to perpetrate evil especially the challenges of Boko-Haram insurgents and other forms of insecurity posing threats to the northern Nigeria.

“The Boko-Haram insurgency and other forms of insecurity going on the northwest is something of great concern for every one of us. That’s why this summit is timely and apt considering the multisectoral challenges facing northern Nigeria.

“This summit is now trying to educate the Muslims, the scholars themselves, on what the best way to be done, so that we can now reduce these problems, the neglected systems, and the response, especially see some state governments are not just concerned, because, you know, although politicians have their own concern.

“And that’s why we are calling on people to keep agitating for the government, because of that, both government our community should come together to make sure that this thing is being corrected and better method is employed, so that the younger ones will not go out to be begging on the streets anymore.

“We are now thinking, this negative threat is causing a lot of problems to us and we have to do something about it. We have to do something to make sure that we set things in the right direction, and then we normalise it.

“Because the Boko-Haram that happened here and so many other problems that happen are really a challenge, and that is what Zulum is saying. No, we can’t allow things to continue like that. We have to do something about it so we’re happy with this governor, and this is what they’re doing to make things get better,” he stated.

Similarly, Kolo, an associate professor at Department of Geography University of Maiduguri, and Proprietor of Adam Model Tsangaya Maiduguri, said he was proud and happy to be addressed as Almajiri because both his late father and himself are products of Almajiri/Tsangaya Education.

He lamented that over the years things have deteriorated due to negligence by the society and the government in northern states due to lack of reform of the systems, adding many unbaked individuals took the advantage and abused the almajiri system of education.

“I’ve established a Tsangaya school as part of my contribution to the community, and that’s why I came to attend this particular two-day summit on Tsangaya education reforms in Borno State. Actually, what comes to my mind is, what are the ways the Tsangaya system can be transformed from the traditional setup to a more modern one, and this is what the government is, I think, doing also, they are trying to change the status quo from the typical Tsangaya where almajiris sit down and memorise the Holy Quran to aim at integrating them into the modern system of education, and gradually also formalise them by introducing some aspects of formal education,” he said.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Sani Elbulature, the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Almajiris and Out-of-School Children, informed the gathering of the commission’s efforts at the national level to stop begging among children.

He added that the commission is partnering state governments to establish centers for Arabic studies to enable graduates of the Tsangaya system to access university education.

Sheikh Aliyu Ahmad Abdul Fathi, chairman of the Arabic and Tsangaya Board, highlighted the achievements recorded since the board’s creation and appealed to the government to address the issue of street children who need education and care, pointed out that many Supreme Court judges, Generals, Professors, Top Politicians Medical doctors, Head of governments parastatals were products of the Sangaya system of education.

Abdul-Fathi said after two-day summit and discussion among the stakeholders to reform the Almajiri and Tsangaya Education the stakeholders come to terms with communique which prohibited street begging, among others.

“The summit proposed establishing a minimum enrollment age to ensure that children are adequately prepared for the curriculum. It was agreed that community education initiatives be launched to raise awareness about the importance of enrolling children at the appropriate age. Age of seven (7) has been the enrolment age for Tsangaya learners for centuries in the tradition of the people of Borno. However, the participants hereby agreed that the age of twelve (12) should be the enrolment age for those learners coming from other cities and states to Maiduguri. Parents/guardians bringing their wards to Maiduguri should also be advised to provide food items to their wards while bringing them.