The recent move by the Niger State government to ban street begging is commendable. Announcing the government’s resolve to implement the law, the State Commissioner of Information and Communication, Alhaji Mohammed Sani Idris, disclosed that the new law is not targeted at the almajiri culture. The Niger State action, it must be noted, is coming on the heels of earlier ones by Kano and Nasarawa states. It is likely that there may be a clamour for a nationwide ban on the menace.
For the ban to work, similar laws have to be passed in other states in the north and perhaps throughout the country. This uniformity of action may have become necessary so that the children who would be rescued from the menace in these three states, for example, do not escape into other states in the country and continue the ugly practice.
We think that it is for this reason that the Niger State government is emphasising that in passing the new law against street begging, stakeholders should not see it as targeting the age-long almajiri culture per se. The almajiri system of education in its originality could not have contemplated the abuse the practice has fallen into in recent times, where children are given begging bowls and made to fend for themselves.
Over time, the children have become unruly and a menace to the society. The growing number of out-of-school children put at between 10 million and 15 million in the country may have been swelled by these unfortunate children, the majority of them are in the North-East region, the epicenter of the insurgency that has ravaged the country in recent times, without any sign of cessation yet. Not quite long ago, President Muhammadu Buhari expressed surprise over the duration of the insurgency.
The almajiri phenomenon underscores the failure of government to provide the basic needs of life to its citizenry, especially the young, the weak and the vulnerable. It is sad that the government will allow its youths to be roaming the streets and begging for a living. We commend the Niger State government as well as those of Kano and Nasarawa states for having the courage to ban street begging in their domains.
We, therefore, urge other states in the country to come up with laws banning street begging. Street begging can only be eliminated if all states in the country ban it. All the three states that have banned street begging must ensure that the affected children are compulsorily enrolled in their basic education systems.
The affected governments can also offer the children free education up to junior secondary school level. There should be concrete plans to empower the parents of the affected children so that they, too, would be in a position to maintain their families.
We believe that the Niger State government and other governments that have passed the law against street begging must be ready to match their words with action. We think that those children, who do not show enough aptitude for higher and formal education, must be given vocational and entrepreneurial education to ensure that they become useful members of the society.
The federal and state governments must be committed to ensure that every Nigerian child is able to get free nine years of basic schooling. Parents of children who are out of school should be enlightened on the need for their children to be educated. One of the best ways to fight poverty and disease is to ensure that the citizens are educated. In the same vein, education is another useful tool to curb insurgency and even terrorism.
Having a growing army of uneducated children roaming the streets will only spell doom for the country. We urge the governments banning street begging to constructively engage their citizens and explain to them the many benefits of the new policy. There is no doubt that it takes courage and political will to ban street begging. We laud the exercise and urge the affected states to sustain it.