Almajiri: Need for repositioning

Long before the colonisation of Nigeria, the almajiri system started around the 11th century in Kanem- Borno and was later replicated in the Sokoto Caliphate after the success of the Jihad led by Sheikh Uthman Dan Fodio. Thereafter, the system continued to spread across northern Nigeria, so much so that it dominated the entire region. However, the system then in the pre-colonial era used to be different from the present-day realisation.

A 2014 UNICEF report estimated the number of these boys conservatively to be 9.5 million in Nigeria, making up 72 per cent of the nation’s out-of-school children. Estimates reveal that Nigeria presently has between 13.2 million and 15 million out-of-school children, most of them almajirai in northern Nigeria.

It’s no longer news that the system over the last few years has been a topic of debate among northern governors, stakeholders, and Islamic scholars. Some are in support of the total abrogation of the system; some are calling for repositioning the system, while others seek its integration into the formal system of education.

Professor Idris Abdulqadir, during the 21st convocation lecture of Bayero University back in 2003, was quoted to have said that the “system of education as practiced today in the northern Nigeria is a completely bastardised system compared to the form and conditions under which the system was operating and its output during the pre-colonial period. The system has been forced, especially with the coming of the British, to its present pitiful state. A popular Hausa singer, Malam Sa’adu Zungur, said that as long as our children are wandering around every nook and cranny, roaming the street begging and chanting for food, the North will surely find herself at the receiving end.”

It’s obviously apparent that the present-day system is faced with uncomfortable problems that are posing a great threat to the fabric of social structure in the North. Reports indicate that owing to the recklessness and negligence of some of the parents and teachers of these boys, life becomes difficult for them. With no shelter, clothes, food or medical provisions, they become vulnerable and are easily brainwashed and conscripted into radicalism and other forms of nefarious activities such as kidnapping, armed robbery, banditry, drug trafficking, street larceny, among others.

It is pathetic to note that many of these boys are separated from their parents at a very young age and sent to faraway places to stay under the supervision of their Qur’anic malam (teacher) for a long time. The greatest concern about this is that many of these Malams receive a high number of pupils that they can neither take care of nor accommodate.

It will be remembered that recently, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the northern governors returned many of these boys to their home states, with a view to containing the spread of the disease. As the children arrived at their homes, some of them were quarantined and tested. The results caused widespread consternation. Of the 169 tested in Kaduna as of that time, 65 were positive; in Jigawa, 91 of the 168 boys tested positive; in Gombe, 8 of the 48 children tested had the virus. In Bauchi, the number was 7 out of 38.

It is important to understand that the Northern Governors’ Form has never proclaimed banning of Quranic teaching and learning, but rather street begging due to the travails the system is characterised by, as discussed in the aforementioned. It is unfortunate that despite the efforts of former President Goodluck Jonathan to reduce street begging and integrate basic primary education in the almajiri system, nothing concrete has been realised.

It is imperative, therefore, for the present administration to take advantage of the schools established by the previous administration and provide them with adequate support financially and to also integrate the almajiri system into the conventional system of education. There should also be constant supervision and monitoring of the schools’ programmes and curriculum so as to check negative instructions and orientation. Training sessions and reorientation should be organised for the Malams so as to give them a sense of belonging, thereby reshaping their orientation in order to accept modifications that may be introduced by the government.

Sulaiman Maijama’a, Bauchi State

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