NASS urged to make law on Almajiri education system

THE National Assembly has been urged to make law banning the movement of children from one place to another under the guise of seeking Islamic education with a view to curbing the menace of Almajiri.

A lecturer at the Federal University, Kashere, Gombe State, Malam Hamza Abubakar, made the appeal in Bauchi, Bauchi State, while delivering a lecture titled “The Practice of Almajiri Education: Its Religious Relevance and Socioeconomic Challenges in Nigeria”, organised by the Bauchi State chapter of the National Council of Muslim Youth Organisations (NACOMYO).

Abubakar, who called on states’ Houses of Assembly to domesticate the law when eventually made by the National Assembly, noted that the Almajiri system of education had not received the desired attention from successive Nigerian governments.

The don called on the Federal Government to address what he called the unorganised academic and administrative structures of Almajiri schools operating in most northern states to enhance their performance.

As part of efforts to tackle the menace, Abubakar recommended intensive public enlightenment campaign to educate parents, proprietors of Almajiri schools and the general public on the problems associated with that system of education.

The state coordinator of NACOMYO, Muhammad Rabiu, said the lecture, an annual event, was organised to educate the public, particularly the Muslim Ummah, on matters that affect them.