The Almajiri's Pickle

One of the first things I noticed upon stepping my feet in Kano are plate wielding children, shabbily dressed and moving from one place to another begging for alms. I  know what it means to beg but I was used to seeing disabled people do it. I didn't know that up north, it was a "norm". I later learnt that "dem no dey troway food for North o" because people who need food are out there on the street. From NYSC camp, when my food remained, I just wait for an Almajiri child to pass by then hand it over to him.

The word "Almajiri" is an Hausa word meaning student. The Almajiri system of Islamic education can be traced from way back  before the invasion of Northern Nigeria by the colonial masters. It started in a town called Kanem-Borno. Years later, the Sokoto and Borno caliphate began to run the system together. Inspectors were made to go round the schools and thereafter report to the Emir on the state of the schools. The schools were close to the children's home and there was no need to travel very far to get an education.

During the colonial era, things turned out badly for the Almajiri education as the British rule abolished funding for Almajiri education and deposed the Emirs that reigned. To this end, the Almajiri education no longer received funding from the community and the government. These children now resorted to begging for alms to fend for themselves.


Years later, this issue has deteriorated even the more. Children are made to leave their homes in the village and are sent to the town in the care of a Mallam to attend Almajiri schools and acquire Islamic education. Apart from acquiring education, they are left solely to cater for themselves and this they actualize through begging on the streets. Ordinarily, the Mallam ought to ensure that they are fed, housed, clothed and educated as in the past but he is handicapped. The best he can do is to offer these children the entrance of his house to serve as a place of sleep during the nights. Better still, a spirited individual in the community could offer his uncompleted building as a school during the day and a home at night. Very few of these Mallams receive funding from either the government, NGO's or wealthy individuals in the community so they do the best they can by giving them education and leaving the children at the mercy of members of the public.

They wake up in the morning, hands on their bowl, they are out there begging for food and money. Some even resort to eating from the bins when they haven't got enough food for the day. At intervals, they go to their school to learn then come back to continue their hustle. Sometimes, they walk kilometres away from where they live to beg and at night, they get into the trunk of a taxi, bus or keke just to get home.

These children are made to become adults at a very young age. Many of them do hard labour just so they can feed. Some adults wouldn't want to give them their hard earned money just like that without letting them sweat for it. They rather ask them to do one menial job or another then give them money as a sort of payment.

Apart from Islamic education, hardly no other form of education is acquired unless for the tiny few. In the regime of former governor Ibrahim Shekarau, vocational skills and crafts were introduced for those who had trained in the Almajiri system for them to have a trade later in life but how far? Dead. It doesn't exist anymore. So, what is the future of these children after they're grown enough to cater for themselves? Same story - most of them end up doing  menial jobs like shoe shining, hawking, mai shayi, etc or better still, become Mallam themselves. The ones who become resistant to the Mallam's whip, end up as hoodlums, brandishing arms here and there and are used as political thugs.
Most of these children don't know the intimacy of living with parents. The ones that are fortunate probably visit home once in a year during Sallah periods. So who then inculcates moral in them? At that stage of their lives, the role of parenting cannot be overemphasised.

There's no female "Almajiri" as the females from the homes who send their boys to Almajiri schools are at home hawking for their parents or sent to the city as  housemaids. I like to think that these female children may be faced with early marriage since their parents don't have enough to cater for them. Marriage to a rich Alhaji seems like a shortcut out of poverty.

The people in government are very much aware of this fact but choose to be insensitive. They know these things but shy away from it. I'll give you a practical instance with my experience here in Kano State. It would be out on the PART TWO of this post. Stay glued.
Udo diri gi 👌
Photo Credit: Pensul Phoneography