The Almajiri's Pickle (Part 2).

Weeks preceeding the 2019 general elections, I saw lots of Almajiri children in front of the Kano State government house and it was a shocking sight because  it was in direct opposition to what a government ought to be doing. Weeks after the election, these children dissappear from the gate. They are no longer at the gates begging. I don't know what you're thinking...


Then again,  during campaigns you see young boys carry daggers and all sorts of harmful instruments. I'm told that these guys were (or are) Almajiri children brought to town for the purpose of campaigns. At any slightest provocation, hell is let loose on anyone who tries to challenge them. One would wonder why  you can give him such instrument and he doesn't question the reason for wielding such. He just tags along and wait for an order from his superior.


The government should work towards providing quality skill acquisition for these children. Shoe mending isn't a skill. Or is it? Sometime ago, a particular politician "empowered" children with shoe mending kits and went about telling whoever cared to listen that he "empowered" Youths. Education should be about sufficiency - educationally and financially. At least, they deserve an education, then a skill to back it up.


The government has recently said that it would ban the Almajiri education but Almajiri education is not the problem, Poverty is. Negligence on the part of the government is.
The children who go about begging come from poor homes where parents give birth to more children than they can afford to take care of. This is one of the major causes of street begging. If parents are compelled to control birth, and adequate preparations made for the children born, then the number of street children would be reduced significantly. Proper sensitization should be given to intending couples on the number of children to have and this has been neglected.


The Kano State government have also begun arresting street beggars in a bid to stop street begging. But I honestly wish there was an alternative before this. It would have been something worth commending.


 More importantly, the government should strengthen the Almajiri education to ensure that there is a blend of Western and Islamic education in order to fit into today's world. Since their parents cannot afford a secondary and University education for them, the skills acquired at the basic level would put food on the family's table rather than them feeding on other people's labour.


There's a lot to do and so, paying lip service to the issue of Almajiri helps no one. From saying the Almajiri system of education would be abolished to postponing such pronouncement. Of course you can't make a pronouncement with nothing on ground. There's more to a mere pronouncement.
https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/336293-buhari-plans-to-ban-almajiri-system-but-not-immediately-presidency.html
First, the building of actual Almajiri schools, secondly the social inclusion of these children.

Udo diri gi 👍