The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi 11 is not new to controversies; his radical views on several national issues have always stood him out as a lone voice seeking reforms.
His views on the socio-political issues, particularly of the north, always place him at loggerheads with the northern conservatives
Sanusi has always been immune to their caustic attacks each time he spoke truth to power. Perhaps, the knowledge he acquired through several years of scholarly exploits has placed him far above his peers.
So, when he speaks on issues such as economy, politics, religion, family and other social political issues, particularly relating to the north, he does so from the perspective of knowledge, exposure and audacious royal diadem.
Despite several retributive acts against him however, the royal Islamic scholar-cum administrator, has remained undaunted in his determination to push on, even when nobody is ready to act.
This is why he has continued to sound the drums, drawing government’s attention to its responsibilities.
So, when the issue of the Almajiri or neglected children of the north came up recently, it was not surprising that the royal father, had to drive the truth into the ears of his captive audience
The Almajiri system, when literarily translated, stands for “someone who leaves his home in search of Islamic knowledge.” It is an education system practised mainly by people in northern Nigeria, but also amongst Islamic scholars in some parts of the southern Nigeria
Former President Goodluck Jonathan’s plans to tackle the challenge in 2010 saw to the investment of about N15billion to construct Almajiri Integrated Model Schools across northern states.
The schools were basically aimed at integrating and modernising the system with the formal education.
Jonathan launched the programme on April 10, 2012 at Gagi in Sokoto State, where he registered 25 pupils in the new model boarding school, equipped with modern facilities. A total of 157 of such schools were completed and commissioned before June, 2015.
But the projects were converted to other uses when that government lost power in 2015
In early 2019 however, the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno drew the attention of the National Economic Council (NEC) to the danger, nay time bomb of the Almajirai practice, calling for actions to deal with the issue. This call was ignored, following the controversies that trailed it.
Presidential Spokesman, Garba Shehu issued a statement the next day, saying that government would not carry out the plans until it has consultations with everyone involved
But Monguno explained thus, “We are not saying that they are going to be contained in a manner that you might think we want to do something that is harmful to them; no; what we want to do is to work with the state government to enforce the policy of education for every child.
“It is every child’s right, his entitlement so long as he is a Nigerian. If you recall what happened in the Western region, I think in the 50’s and the 60’s, when the Premier made education free and compulsory at both primary and secondary levels.
“This is what we are looking at. Let me tell you something, one of the elements of national power is the population of a country. You don’t just rely on your armed forces, the location and so on and so forth. Population is a very critical element of national power. It is from the population that you get a critical mass.”
According to the NSA, “Imagine the child that was 10 years old on 27th July, 2009, will be 20 in 37 days time, we are not talking of one child, there are millions of them. So, when we look at population, as an element of National security, don’t be surprised if out of every 100 almajirai, you have two neurologists, four architects, two lawyers, and so on and so forth.”
Monguno further said if government did not start thinking the short and long term solutions to overcome the problem, it would be difficult to address, adding that a “collective” effort is needed.
“You require collective effort. You can’t carry this load and drop it on top of the government; even government should not work as a one-legged tripod; it has to be three-legged. We have to deal with the issue of these children of almajirai, regardless of how people feel about it.”
Elder statesman, Tanko Yakasai while speaking with BDSUNDAY on the issue, traced the deterioration in social values in the North to “neglect of formal education.”
Yakasai, who lamented the attitudes and poor disposition of northern elite to enforcing formal education, berated President Buhari’s administration for allegedly refusing to act fast to tackle the poor state of education in the north.
“l think it was his immediate past Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu who scored himself low in achievements when he said he failed. He was honest about it. But that is not enough, the President is aware that the north will question him when he completes his term about what he did to uplift education in the north,” Yakassai said.
So, when the Emir of Kano spoke at an event put together by the First Lady, Aisha Buhari’s Future Assured Initiative and the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja, the other day, he blamed the political elite for refusing to act to protect the poor and weak, blaming this for the pervasive socio-economic and security challenges in Nigeria.
For him, “Political powers exercised by the state should not be limited to oppressive powers of the state – the Courts, the Police and the Prisons. The citizens should also have benefits such as social safety nets, economic empowerment and incentives. Your role is to ensure that justice is established and you must be ready to answer to Allah for all your actions, because you will be asked.”
The monarch further observed that “no government, whether at the national, sub-national, or at the grassroots, should be speared, as they exist to provide security for the weakest group; to ensure justice and fairness in the distribution of patronages.”
He lampooned the northern political elite for hiding under the Shariah law to, not only, exploit the poor, but also manipulate them at will to achieve their selfish objectives, adding that “the political class must deliver justice to the poor, or face the wrath of Allah’s judgment.”
He recalled how in 1999, 12 states in the North adopted the Shariah laws without seeing any need to reform the laws outside of the Muslim Criminal law.
“No law that talks about consent in marriage, the rights of wives and husbands, domestic violence , rights of women divorced, the responsibilities of husbands under divorce situations, or if a child is found on the streets, is the father responsible and can the state hold him accountable?
“These are Shariah issues too, and they are all more important than laws on cutting off the hand of a thief,” he noted.
Sanusi called on the Northern political class to address the cries of the women against “husbands who claim their rights but abandon their responsibilities in marriage; women being divorced with their husbands not taking care of the children while the children end up on the streets as drug addicts, political thugs and tools for violent extremists.”
He decried the continuous existence of the Almajiri system that allows young children to throng the streets begging for daily sustenance, blaming it on the absence of genuine social policy that provides safety nets and laws that deliver economic justice in the land.
The royal father, who also kicked against “criminalising the Almajiri” or street urchins, noted that the system thrives on the back of failed family values where fathers are expected to be responsible for their children’s upkeeps.
“Those of us who handle communities’ issues every day; deal with issues of parents forcing young daughters into loveless marriages, with arbitrary divorce, lack of care within and after marriage, understand the problem.
“We speak of the Almajiri problem as if the Almajiri is the problem when we, in fact, know that the problem is with the irresponsible fathers who leave their children on the streets.
“If you are too poor to take care of your children, it means you who should go and beg, not the children,” he advocated.
“For all those women who are crying in your state, and you have not protected them, Wallahi, Allah will ask you; for every child who is left uncared for, begging on the streets and you have not held the father responsible, Wallahi, Allah will ask you,” he further said.
As usual, he did not leave the gathering without his own contributions on what he thought should be the solutions to the problems, announcing that after several months of thorough works, himself and the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Mohammed Sa’ad Abubakar 111, had successfully packaged a set of laws to address some of the issues which would be presented to Governor Ibrahim Ganduje of Kano State for onward transmission to the State House of Assembly for consideration and passage into law.
“We can spend 100 years saying that it is wrong and un-Islamic for a man to beat his wife, but it is the governor and the State House of Assembly that should pass the law; it is the courts and the police that should make sure that the woman and children get justice by enforcing the laws, the scholars and Emirs cannot do that.
“It is only the governors that can pass the laws that will ensure that when a man divorces his wife, he must take up his responsibilities to provide for the children and it is the courts and security system that should interpret and enforce the law,” he said.
“So, the problem is, these groups of human beings are those who will stand to answer to Allah if there is no justice,” the Emir emphasised.
He also wondered, “Do you just marry and have children without any responsibilities?
According to him, “Justice means that everyone is given his rights. If a man takes the privilege of being the head of the family, he takes the responsibilities of being the provider for the family. You cannot take that privilege and abandon the responsibilities.”
He questioned the veracity of the values system that allows many men to abandon their children when he asked: “Is it a fact that a father has the right to force his daughter into a loveless marriage, that you have the rights to batter your wife, you have the right to have children and push them to the streets to beg, that when you divorce your wife, you ask her and her children to pack and go back to her father’s house and that is the end?”
Tony Ailemen, Abuja
