SPECIAL REPORT: Agonizing Plights of Street ‘Almajiri’ Beggars and the Looming Insecurity

SPECIAL REPORT: Agonizing Plights of Street ‘Almajiri’ Beggars and the Looming Insecurity

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By MUKHTAR Ya’u Madobi and Salis Mohammed Manager

The goals of the traditional Arabic system of education for acquiring basic Islamic knowledge, also known as ‘Almajiranchi-‘ in core Northern States of Nigeria have over the years suffered abuses.

Instead of acquiring knowledge, these Islamic pupils, called the ‘Almajirai’ (Singular; Almajiri) have turned to street beggars in cities like Kano, seeking alms and money in order to get food for survival.

Majority of the children undergoing the traditional Arabic school training under the Almajiri system often looked unkempt, as their parents dumped them in Kano from other parts of the North, with little or no care.

The consequences of this ugly situation continues to serve as a barrier for many Almajirai to realize their Islamic knowledge-acquisition ambition, just like Halliru Shafi’i, who our PRNigeria reporters recently encountered on one of the streets in Kano.

I Want to Become a Medical Doctor – Almajiri

Shafi’i, a 12 years-old Almajiri student has always nursed the ambition of becoming a medical doctor in future. But his dream was shattered some years ago when his uncle brought him to Tsangaya (a traditional Arabic school for acquiring Islamic education under the custody of AlaRamma – an Islamic cleric) in Kano.

Our PRNigeria reporters found him in a group of other ‘Almajiris’, sleeping on a bare floor under a bridge, with his head resting on his plastic bowl while snoring. Not even the horning of moving vehicles and other tricycles disturbed his sleep.

A quick glance at his face uncovers the emotional trauma he was battling at that very moment.

In fact, Shafi’i’s condition can be described as that of a person with ‘forlorn hope’, waiting for a manna that will erase his sorrows, but not knowing exactly from where the intervention will surface.

He must have been worried about how he was neglected by the people who were supposed to provide everything for him at this tender age, but they instead chose to leave him at his own mercy to make ends meet, under the disguise of seeking for knowledge.

Immediately when asked about his situation, Shafi’i didn’t waste time in narrating his ordeal to PRNigeria.

“I am very hungry. I am yet to eat any food since morning. The hunger is what even forced me to fall asleep here. And that is how we survive. We barely get to eat three times in a day,” he said, in a tone that reveals hopelessness.

According to Shafi’i, ever since he was brought to Kano for Almajiranchi (acquiring Islamic education) from his village, called Gidan Tsahiru in Kaduna State to Malam Kabiru (his Tsangaya teacher), he knew his ambition of becoming a medical doctor was over.

In his words; “Even though I have never been enrolled in a western school, I will gladly join now if I get the opportunity to do so because of its benefits”.

He continued saying; “For example now, whenever I see my peers going to school within the neighborhood, I become motivated and wish I could be in their shoes as well .”

Although he joined Almajiranchi willingly without any form of coercion from his parents, he however decried the kind of plights that he and his colleagues have been encountering.

“We were more than 100 in our Tsangaya and 20 pupils will sleep in a single room with little space on top of a mat or bare floors.” Shafi’i added.

It is gratifying that Shafi’i attested to the fact that the public are treating them nicely without stigmatization, but is always worried about what to eat. “my major problem is food and clothing.”

But, Shafi’i’s condition could be considered better than that of his counterpart interviewed by our PRNigeria correspondents in another part of Kano.

Zahraddini Usman was brought from Unguwar Dawa in Katsina to Kano city by his brother and enrolled in Tsangaya school.

He and his colleagues were sighted inside a very old and dilapidated uncompleted storey building where they have adopted as accommodation.

In a sorrowful voice, he narrated how they have been subjected to bullying and other forms of harsh treatment from their senior colleagues, whenever they fail to bring food for them when they go round begging after Quranic Recitation sessions.

According to Zahraddini, the food is nowhere to be found to quench their hunger, not to even talk of getting it for others.

“Sometimes we get or miss food except if you have a household where you work. Yesterday we slept with an empty stomach. It is now that we will go out and see whether we can be able to get any food even if it is at night, because If we go to school without the food, we get bullied by our seniors”.

When asked about medication when they fall sick, Zahraddini responded saying; “when you are not feeling well, your brother will take care and get medicine for you, otherwise you are on your own.

“My colleague was even vomiting yesterday and up to now he is not feeling well but he had no choice but to take his bowl and go in search of food”.

Zahraddini equally decried the deplorable condition of their leaky room with no window or door, such that it becomes soaked whenever it rains.

“This situation makes us vulnerable to mosquito bites which ultimately causes malaria sickness. malaria disease.

I Don’t Allow my Almajiris to Roam on Streets – Islamic Cleric

Malam Muhammad Rambazu is a renowned AlaRamma (Islamic cleric) residing in his Tsangaya (Qur’anic school) located at Dambare in Kumbotso LGA of Kano State.

Though he never received any form of support from government and other stakeholders, but he over the years managed to monitor the movement of his pupils to avoid them begging for alms and food.

It is interesting to note that most of Almajiris in his school are engaged in one or form of menial job or the other, from which they fend for themselves.

“My students are not roaming on the streets, markets, motor parks or other places where their moral conduct can be compromised.

“Some younger ones are having households within the neighborhood where they run errands and do some activities for them while others engaged in menial jobs likes shoe polishing, nail cutting, laundry services and disposing of refuse.

“And for those who are incapable, we used to support them with a token to buy laundry soaps and cut their hair as the need may arise,” said Malam Rambazu.

He further stated that he allowed his students to engage in any lawful business but once it is time for Quranic session, everybody must return to base for that is the reason why they are brought at the first place.

Malam Rambazu revealed to PRNigeria how he used to reach agreement with parents who come to enroll their children, that the ‘parents must bear responsibilities of their children’, yet most parents breach the agreements.

He rolled out some of the problems bedeviling his Tsangaya to include leaky roof, inadequate rooms, scarcity of potable water and dearth of mosquito nets, among others.

Weak Governance Behind Unregulated Almajiranchi – Kano Residents

A respected elder at Jakara area of Kano State, Ahmad Babangida Allah Masani, blamed weak and bad governance as the major reasons for Almajiris roaming about on the streets, without any form of regulation.

According to him, the Almajiri system is gradually breeding criminals that commit various social vices, including snatching of valuables, extortion, burglary, thuggery, drug abuse and many others.

“Almajiranchi is one of the reasons why we are facing difficult security challenges today in our country.

“In order to arrest and solve this problem, the government should endeavor to give free education to citizens and roll out policies and programs where books and other reading and learning materials of your kid will be taken care of.

“Also, giving free food to students in school will help greatly in tackling this problem adequately.” Babangida said.

He also highlighted the importance of providing food to the students as one of the factors that motivate children to attend school, especially during this current economic hardships situation.

He appealed to the public to consider Almajiri and other vulnerables within the society as their brothers and sons.

Also, another public commentator, Professor Tijjani S. Imam advised Kano State Government to regulate Almajiri education in such a way that every child acquire the knowledge in his respective home not in a far away city.

“If this system is adopted, no father will have a chance of dumping his child in Tsangaya without adequate care.” Imam added.

Parents Neglecting their Responsibilities – Varsity Lecturer 

On his part, a Sociologist who also has expertise in Criminology with the Federal University Dutse, Jigawa State, Usman Suleiman Sarki opined that the quest for Islamic knowledge is no longer the major motive for Almajiranchi in Northern Nigeria nowadays.

Mr. Sarki said that some Hausa parents send their kids to Tsangaya so that they can dodge their responsibility of providing their Almajiri children with basic necessities of life.

“It is the parents’ responsibility to take care of their children by providing food, clothes, shelter and medicine but the economic hardship is forcing them to shy away from doing that.

“Also, to some people in Hausa land, they considered Almajiranchi as a form of societal cultural norm and they strive to stick to that tradition always”.

He however noted that Almajiris are being abused and this has the tendency to make them becoming potential security threats in the near future.

“Politicians can also take advantage to recruit them as thugs or foot soldiers for realizing their vicious political interest through intimidating their opponents.

“Personal economic gain due to their destitute condition can help facilitate their radicalization and recruitment into kidnappers, bandits and other terrorists syndicates in the long run”.

While proffering solutions to this quagmire, Sarki tasked the Kano State government to initiate poverty alleviation programs, especially at rural areas where the effect [poverty] is more pronounced by empowering Almajiris and other vulnerables in the society while ensuring that only the right people are getting the necessary support.

“The government should also reform Almajiris schools since Islamic knowledge is also a basic education system which ought to be provided by the government.” Sarki added.

Almajiranchi, a Time Bomb in Northern Nigeria – Security Expert

According to an internal security expert, Dr. Ali Ado Siro of Federal University Dutse, Jigawa State, the Almajiranchi system is a ticking bomb that will eventually explode, if not addressed urgently.

He lamented how Almajiris troop into Kano with no accomodations and end up sleeping in places like markets, mosques, motor parks and streets.

He said “for example, they are seeing people driving flashy cars, eating good food and their children attending world class schools. They put it at the back of their minds that these people are our enemies and thus consider them as their primary targets.

“Because, according to their philosophy and interpretation, any wealthy person is their enemy and unless something is done urgently, we are going to face a lot of trouble with great consequences that are detrimental which only God knows.”

While commenting on the genesis of the problem he said; “Unfortunately in Northern Nigeria, parents want to marry and have children, but they don’t want to take care of them.”

He then called on the Kano government to liaise with the State Hisbah Board in profiling these Almajiris before things went from bad to worse as the consequences will affect the entire socio-economic, cultural and political structure of the state.

Dr. Siro ended up reiterating that “security is everybody’s business” not only government as all hands must be on deck for collective responsibilities.

Current Almajiri System is Faulty – CSOs

Mansur Umar Kurugu works with Equal Access International (EAI) in Nigeria, an Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that encourages people to acquire knowledge and necessary skills so as to live the kind of life they desire in Nigeria.

In his view, Tsangaya education is a good source of acquiring basic knowledge but the system is currently under threat and thus entirely faulty due to absence of good and essential structures.

Mr. Kurugu identified illiteracy, poverty, poor parenting and weak government policies as factors facilitating the continuity of this Almajiranchi menace.

He therefore advocated for a multi-stakeholder approach of tackling the vice, where traditional, political and religious leaders will find a common ground to brainstorm and come up with feasible measures on how to address the problem.

“In the long run, CSOs in collaboration with government should embark on sensitization and advocacy campaigns as well as empowering vulnerables with skills and vocational trainings so as to cushion the effect of economic hardships which serve as trigger for this kind of social disorder”.

On his part, Dr Abdullahi Musa Sufi, an advocate of Almajiri reforms and other SDGs , blamed insurgency in Northeast and banditry in Northwest as contributing factors for trooping of children, whom are mostly orphans into Kano with the notion of acquiring Islamic knowledge through Tsangaya system.

“Addressing the source of this problem is very important else they may turn to thieves, kidnappers and other criminals. They can easily be radicalized and recruited into terrorists syndicates.” Dr. Sufi added.

Federal Government and Almajiri Education

It can be recalled that the administration of former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan made efforts to reform Tsangaya school occupied by Almajiris into basic educational system.

Jonathan spent a whopping N15 billion for the construction and remodeling of many Tsangaya schools in the north, especially Kano State where the influx of Almajiris is more pronounced. However, due to poor policies and mismanagement, the majority of these schools are now in ruins and lay waste because the pupils have returned to their old ways, roaming the streets for alms.

Jonathan, seeing the level of illiteracy in the North, where out-of-school children known as Almajiri constitute nuisance, had come up with a lofty ideal of building almajiri schools, to reduce street begging and integrate basic primary education in the almajiri system.

Kano State, which according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), hosts about a third of the estimated nine million out-of-school children in the North has about 10 of those schools.

The schools, which are renamed as Tsangaya Model Primary Schools, are located at Dandishe quarters, Albasu, Gaya, Bichi, Harbau in Tsanyawa and Sakuwa in Dawakin-Kudu.

Others are in Doguwa, Kibiya, Garo in Kabo, Warawa, Ganduje in Dawakin-Tofa and Kanwa in Madobi local councils.

These schools provided free feeding, uniform, and instructional materials. Nonetheless, they have limited capacity to check the influx of almajiri in the state even at that time, not to even talk of the current circumstances.

Can the National Commission For Almajiri Education Solve the Problem?

48 hours to the end of his administration, former President Muhammadu Buhari signed a bill for the establishment of a commission to address the challenges of Almajiri and other out-of-school children in Nigeria.

The move, though very late, was welcomed by Nigerians who have been calling for reforms in the Almajiri or Tsangaya system of acquiring Qur’anic education.

Buhari had appointed Sha’aban Ibrahim Sharada, the former member representing Kano Municipal in the House of Representatives to head the commission. The bill for the establishment of the commission was sponsored by a member of the House of Representatives, Balarabe Shehu Kakale (PDP, Sokoto) and 18 others.

The objectives of the commission is to formulate policy and issue guidelines in all matters relating to almajiri education and out-of-school children in Nigeria as well as provide funds for research and personnel development for the improvement of almajiri education in the country, the development of programmes on almajiri education, construction of classrooms and other facilities relating to almajiri education and out of school children.

In addition to these objectives, the commission is also to collate, analyse and publish information relating to almajiri education and out-of-school children in the country and obtain from the states and from other sources, such information as is relevant to the discharge of its functions.

But only time will tell whether this commission can be able to perform the magic, and change the narratives of the Almajiri and out-of-school children in Nigeria.

This report is produced with support from the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) under the Collaborative Media Engagement for Development Inclusivity and Accountability project (CMEDIA) funded by the MacArthur Foundation.