• Friday, March 29, 2024
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BusinessDay

Nasarawa Govt. mulls ban on street begging by Almajiris

Governor Abdullahi Sule

Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has said that the proliferation of the Almajiri’s and the Almajiri system in the North is one of the major challenges confronting the Northern region.

The governor has vowed to take the kids out of the street begging with a plan in place to resettle them.

The Governor who decried the influx of Almajiris in Lafia, the State capital, as well as other major towns in the state,  said plans had reached an advanced stage to send a bill to the State House of Assembly seeking to ban street begging in the state.

Sule raised the alarm while receiving a report on the statistics of Almajiri schools across the state, from members of the Quranic Reciters Association of Nigeria, at the Government House in Lafia.

He observed that their presence on the streets poses enormous threat to the people of the state, especially those coming to invest.

He however said the ban would be done only after ways have been collectively identified on how to end street begging by the almajiris.

The Governor said his administration had delayed sending the bill before the assembly pending the submission of the report.

He noted that the influx of almajiris into the state was a major security threat, even as he said the proliferation of almajiris who spend their time begging on the street, exposes the children to dangers.

Governor Sule pointed out that the almajiri system is among the major challenges confronting the North, stressing that everything possible must be done to address the menace of street begging.

He further decried a situation where parents give birth to numerous children who they fail to cater for their immediate needs, choosing instead to send them far away, and to leave them under the care of Islamic scholars.

“Regarding the law banning street begging, we will tarry a while until we are able to arrive at a collective resolution stopping the almajiris from street begging.

“I don’t want a situation where we will pass the law and at the end subject these children to more difficulties,” Sule said.

He expressed appreciation that the group, earlier mandated in November last year to undertake a study of the number of Almajiri schools in the state, as well as to advise on ways the state government could intervene, was able to finally submit its report.

Sule disclosed that the report would be handed over to the Secretary to the State Government, Tijjani Aliyu Ahmad, for further deliberations and action.

Presenting the report earlier, Nasarawa State Chairman of the Quranic Reciters Association of Nigeria, Imam Gwani Abdullahi Aliyu, disclosed that so far, every Almajiri school across the state had been registered.

Imam Aliyu pleaded with the Governor to consider the report with magnanimity, in line with his manifest contributions to the group as well as Islam.

He extended the appreciation of the national leaders of the group who acknowledged the recognition the Governor accorded the group in the state.