Abolishing The Almajiri System -By Adamu Dauda

The COVID-19 pandemic plaguing the entire world has forced Northern Governors to rise to face one of the problems of the region for decades. That problem is the Almajiri system that has been abused for many decades. Reminds me of the saying, “Necessity is what impels men take action…”. While we await their long-term solution to this problem beyond taking the children off the streets for now, I believe they should be given all the support they need to find a lasting solution.

For those who may not know, the Almajiri system is basically a system that provides Islamic knowledge to children of the less privileged. They leave their homes and travel for thousands of kilometres to states and cities in search of Islamic education. The problem however is that the system is not well structured to provide accommodation and feeding for the children, so they’re forced to go around begging for food and alms and even sleep on the streets sometimes. This has exposed these innocent children to severe conditions and even preventable deaths in some cases.

It must be noted that the children of the middle class and the rich also obtain Islamic education. Not as Almajiris though. They live with their parents, obtain western education mostly in the day time and Islamic education in the evenings at home or in Islamic schools without going through the stress of fending for themselves on the streets.

The recent repatriation of Almajiris across several states though condemnable is also fascinating. Fascinating because I have always thought that locating the roots and origin of these children we see on the streets was rocket Science. Apparently not.

We remember vividly that the administration of former President Jonathan built about 165 Almajiri schools to carter for the accommodation and feeding of these children, in addition to providing them with western education while they seek Islamic knowledge. Even though that was a step in the right direction, the entire effort was abandoned without an alternative solution.

The truth however, is that providing a lasting to this problem must go beyond taking these children off the streets. We must be able to consider why these children were on the streets in the first place, how we can prevent more children from coming on the streets and how we can carter for them and other vulnerable children in our society.

Perhaps we should ask ourselves, why would anyone give birth to a child/children and send them to go out and fend for themselves while seeking knowledge at a very tender age? Several factors could be responsible. My guess include lack of education, poverty, Culture ( may be the parents were Almajiris themselves and so they see it as a cultural thing that must continue). But lets look at the poverty dynamic closely.

The rate of poverty in Nigeria is no news, it’s worse in the North. 40% of our national population are living in poverty according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Eighty two (82) million people. Now 87% of the poor people in Nigeria live in Northern Nigeria according to the world bank. That is around seventy one (71) million people. Majority of people in Nigeria and especially in the North are eking out a living from peasant farming. They hardly have enough to eat let alone surplus to sell.

Another interesting thing to consider is the rate at which polygamy is practiced all over Nigeria and especially the North. Both the rich and poor, Northerners and Southerners practice polygamy without discrimination. But attention must be paid to how people who would have fared better with a small family end up having large families. If People with small families find it difficult to feed, clothe and live a decent life, how much more people without a reasonable means of livelihood with large families. For the record, I’m not against polygamy or having many children (even though the rate at which the world’s population is growing may have its downside long-term). The problem is, giving birth to large number of children with no means of taking care of such large number in a country with little or no social protection for vulnerable children. And I believe strongly, that the parents of these Almajiri children belong in this category. While it is true that children are a gift from God, they can be a threat to humanity without the love, care and the training they need to support themselves.

But again, why would anyone give birth to so many Children with or in most cases without the ability or means to cater for these children? My guess;

• 50/50 chance of survival due to diseases and a very poor healthcare system.
• The decreasing chances of social mobility. Some parents hope that out of many children one or two may escape the poverty net to take care of them in the future.
• Most farmers who still depend on traditional farming methods see large families as extra hands to help them in their farms.
• Religious and political domination. This goes beyond region and religion. The more children we have the more the numbers favour us to dominate politically and religiously.
• Some people just want to expand their lineage.

There is no doubt that a lasting solution to the Almajiri problem requires intervention from the government, religious leaders, traditional rulers and even citizens throughout the country. How do we provide a lasting solution beyond taking them off the streets to ensure that post COVID-19, we don’t go back to square one? How do we ensure they get the Islamic education they need for this world and the hereafter, alongside western education to ensure they stand a better chance of a decent living in the long run? Some of the steps I feel can be taken include, but not limited to;

• Beyond declaring compulsory and free education up to atleast, Junior secondary school level for every citizen of Nigeria, we must ensure the vigorous implementation of free education.

• Affordable or absolutely free Islamic schools where the children of the poor can get the Islamic education they need. After normal school hours of course.

• Vocational training and skill acquisition programmes for citizens who do not wish to go beyond junior secondary school.

• More economic opportunities for citizens to be able to earn a decent living for themselves and their families.

• Punitive measures for irresponsible parenting. Parents who give birth to kids and do not send them to school and cater for their needs are endangering the lives of their children and society at large.

• The difficult discussion on population control must be considered.

• Massive awareness on the downside of our exploding population, how it overstretches our scarce resources as individuals and even government. The less children we have as individuals the more resources we have to cater for their nutrition, health, education etc and the less burden on government.

• Improving our healthcare system to prevent avoidable deaths and give children a better chance of survival.

• Building a just and equitable political system that looks beyond the number of votes a state or region produces for economic, political and infrastructural considerations, to focus more on wider inclusion of citizens politically, economically and infrastructure wise.

While this is an ongoing discussion, I believe with the political will and courage of taking hard decisions, this problem is definitely one that we can solve once and for all. Finally, I hope that when the necessity of COVID-19 is long gone, we wont be left with the rot and decay of the Almajiri system.

@Escale01 on twitter