Kano sends Almajiris back to states of origin

Opeyemi Adelere

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The Kano State Government has started sending back the ‘almajiri’ pupils in the state to their respective states to enable the children to reunite with their families.

A statement signed by Muhammad Garba, the Kano State Commissioner for Information on Monday, indicated that the almajiri seminaries had remained congested with pupils having no shelter and nowhere to go, despite the closure of schools throughout the country.

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Almajiri is a system of Islamic education in northern Nigeria that has significantly contributed to the over 10 million out of school children in the country. The system has over the years bred thousands of homeless children roaming the streets of Northern Nigeria as beggars.

Recall that Nigerians have expressed concerns over the social and security threats posed by the army of out-of-school children otherwise known as the Almajiris in the North. This, they considered, a menace that has denied so many children in the region their rights to basic education.

Garba said the measure to evacuate the children and decongest the streets was adopted after due consultation in line with its proactive measures to contain the spread of Coronavirus in the state.

According to him, the state government is working with other concerned states to ensure the success of the process, adding that preparation to hand over 432 almajiris to the Katsina State government on Tuesday at the Kano/Katsina border has been concluded.

He further gave a list of the number of pupils and their states: Yobe, 63; Kaduna, 198; Jigawa, 663; Bauchi, 101; Zamfara, 01; Gombe, 09; Nassarawa, 10; Kano (LGs), 117; and Niger Republic, 01. He said the exercise would continue until all the almajiris are evacuated and sent to their states of origin.

He urged the people of the state to abide by the stay-at-home directive of the government, as there are 59 confirmed cases of the dreaded COVID-19 in the state.