The screaming headline in the Daily Trust of December 19, 2023, “North’s out-of-school children population time bomb” by the federal government should prick the conscience of the northern leaders who have held political offices in the last forty years. The question is: do they leave the north better than how they met it in terms of physical and human development? Of course, the response is predictable.
Infrastructural development without human development is a waste. Literally, human development refers to “the process of enlarging people’s freedoms and opportunities and improving their well-being.” Observably, few roads and infrastructures were built, but the real beneficiaries were neglected; hence, this perpetual neglect has inflamed illiteracy, massive poverty, street urchins, and other social ills in the region proportionally.
The street urchins, otherwise called “Almajiri” in the Hausa language, are repulsive child beggars who pester people for money to eat. Over the years, the practice has festered and grown exponentially to become an institution synonymous with northern culture and traditions. Historically, the word “Almajiri” was said to have been derived from the Arabic word “Al-Muhajirun,” meaning the person who migrates from his enclave to another to seek Islamic education. It is an age-old tradition that has outlived its usefulness.
The system is no longer sustainable because of population explosions and a lack of physical planning by successive northern leaders to modify the system to embrace secular schools concurrently with Arabic education. The bulk of these street urchins are from rustic villages across the north. They moved to the centre, specifically the state capital, believed to have harboured brilliant Muslim clerics, to learn the Quran.
It is pertinent to say that historical evidence shows that the “Almajiri system” was well structured during the pre-colonial era. The emirate, spearheaded by the emir, managed, and funded the system from the money that accrued to the emirate treasury. Obviously, the British incursion that led to the reduction of emirate power destroyed the subsisting communal effort of using state funds to train the kids in Quranic education.
Characteristically, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the then Northern Premier, modernised Quranic education by blending it with secular subjects through the establishment of schools in each province of the North. He was reported to have sent the majority of the Almajiris to schools across the north. Those who had good secondary school results proceeded to university, and those without good results were railroaded to enlist in the military school as soldiers.
The premature death of Sir Ahmadu Bello recedes the initial gains of the educational liberation policy pursued by him as the powerful premier of the northern region. The successive Nigerian leaders’ visual and polarising perception of the Almajiris system as a northern creation for political agenda betrays their shallow understanding of the complex issue at stake. The sociological reports and research on Almajiris show that it is a “catalyst” that requires a catalytic converter approach to filter out this harmful, age-old practice that has become a nuisance and irritant to the region. Some of us see it as a northern problem, but it is not.
This is a national problem that requires a holistic national approach. These innocent boys never aspired to be out-of-school, a public nuisance, or street urchins, but society made them one. It is noted that millions of children from age five and above have never stepped foot in school. Most of them want to go to school, but their parents cannot afford the necessities of life to send them to school. Preponderance numbers of adults live from hand to mouth. Life is difficult, and this is affecting the family and the social fabric. As a nation, we need to strengthen the fabric of our common humanity as well as educate those who may likely become a social nuisance in the future.
The indiscriminate deportation of Almajiris by the then Governor of Kano State, Dr. Umar Ganduje (now APC chairman), across the northern states was criticised by the political pundits then, knowing that they did not address the issue objectively with their fire-brigade approach of outright deportation. Some of these boys have found their way back to cities across the Northern States. Thus, the status quo remains the same, and it is back to square one again.
Clearly, the northern governors need help to quell and quash this age-old tradition of the Almajiris system, supported by Dahiru Usman Bauchi, an Islamic scholar and an acclaimed leader of Almajiris in Nigeria who claimed that he was not consulted prior to its prohibition; hence, the system continues unabated. At this juncture, it is apparent that sending them back to their family is a tentative solution that could not address the issue permanently. These kids have been on the street for a long time; therefore, they are wild and unconscionable.
Rather than deportation, a robust policy that will take care of these abandoned children should be effectively put in place to secure their future. Almajiri education could be tackled by galvanising international donor agencies and philanthropists to support the initiatives of integrating Quranic education with formal education through enhancing the curriculum in traditional Quranic schools to include basic literacy and numeracy skills, as well as vocational training to prepare students for future employment.
Also, the government should conduct awareness programs to educate parents, communities, and religious leaders about the importance of balanced education and the dangers of sending children to Quranic schools without proper supervision. We can only reduce the number of out-of-school children through coordinated poverty alleviation programs to address the economic challenges faced by Almajiri families. This may include skills training, microfinance initiatives, and other poverty alleviation measures. Similarly, legislation to regulate the conduct of Quranic schools, ensuring they meet certain standards for living conditions, education quality, and child welfare, should be implemented.
As a nation, the fate of these abandoned, ill-bred, out-of-school children on the other side of the fence is intertwined with the well-bred and well-educated ones who are schooling in the best institutions across the world. To reduce future catastrophes, we need to build a bridge that reaches all strata of society and beyond. Therefore, we should always remember the words of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who says that “the children of the poor you failed to train (educate) will never let your children live in peace.”
Rotimi S. Bello, a public commentator, writes from Canada.
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