Sola Ojo, Kaduna
As debates on alarming number of roaming children especially those known as the Almajiri continue, the Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, is expected to present a memo on practical steps to address the issue to his colleagues in the 19 northern states.
The Commissioner, Ministry of Human Services and Social Development, Hajiya Hafsat Baba, gave the hint yesterday
He spoke during a meeting with stakeholders working around Almajiris in Kaduna State.
According to her, the current administration in the state had the political will to address the issue and seek the cooperation of other states with regards to inter-state movement of the children in the category.
Baba, who was an active social activist before her appointment as commissioner in 2017, frowned at parents who pushed their children on the street to beg under the guise of Almajiri model of education.
To check the development, she disclosed that the law banning street begging and hawking in the state would be implemented.
She charged parents to be alive to the responsibility of the number of children they bring forth and not to send them off under the guise of Quranic education in far distance away from home.
“Whether we like it or not, this is our issue and we must find a way of addressing it.”
“The governor now has a committee in place to see to the implementation of laws banning begging and street hawking in Kaduna State.
“We should know that government is not in charge of the moral upbringing of any child. It is the responsibility of the parents to bring up their children to become important persons in life.
“If the political will will work, parents should help it work by inculcating moral values in their children. Parenting in Northern Nigeria is zero. I’m also worry about these children that are in the streets to beg to feed the family.
“We are sitting on a time bomb. These are the children who don’t have the feeling of the father or the mother. That bond is not there. We call for this meeting to discuss and come up with what we can do differently. We must tell ourselves the truth because it is our issue. The governor is going to present a memo to northern governors.
Senior Research Fellow, Ahmadu Bello University, Arewa House, Kaduna, Dr Shuaibu Shehu Aliyu, charged state government to champion the course of addressing the issue of Almajiri in the norther part of the country.
“There has not been political will on the part of the government except now that the current government in Kaduna State is trying to do something about it.
“One of the things that can be done is for the northern governors to make a law on interstate movement on Almajiri in the name of Quranic schooling. Kaduna State government, on its own, should come up with uniform for each of the Quranic schools, so their children can be identified at any point they are seen roaming the streets. There is also no need for a five years old boy to be seeking Quranic school in a far place, away from home”, he said.
National Coordinator, Mu Kawar Da Bara Movement and Editorial Cartoonist, Daily Trust, Mustapha Bulama, said, parents should be told that it is their responsibility to take care of their children.“Our Islamic scholars should move from telling us to marry more than one wife’’
letting the parents know they are responsible for decent upbringing of their children.”
The meeting had in attendance the representatives of education authority, the police, the academic, but the critical stakeholders that must come together if this issue will be properly addressed include the Mallams, traditional leaders, Almajiris’ parents, Almajiri himself, Civil society and non-governmental organisations while government which is at the centre rise to coordinate.