KANO, Nigeria (AFP) – Plastic bowls in hand, often chanting religious texts, growing numbers of child beggars are roaming Nigeria's second city Kano in a trend that is worrying authorities and residents.

The number of child beggars in Kano state has nearly doubled in five years to about two million, the bulk of them wandering the streets of the eponymous state capital.

Fearing a "social time bomb" waiting to explode, residents are starting to create pressure groups to stem the tide, but critics worry that the move could backfire and encourage more children from poverty-stricken homes to try their luck.

In filthy, tattered clothes, they move door-to-door across this city, hang around traffic lights or cluster outside expensive private schools asking for food and money.

"The presence of these children is a social time bomb which if not defused will certainly consume everyone when it explodes, because these children know nothing about parental care, love and affection and therefore see everybody as an enemy and responsible for their deprivation," said Kano resident Abdullahi Yusuf.

He was speaking to AFP outside a mall where a group of two dozen children were stretching out their bowls toward shoppers.

For generations it has been tradition in Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria for parents to send their sons from as early as six to local Islamic scholars known as Malams to learn the Koran.

Koran lessons are free, but the children must fend for themselves, usually by begging and in some cases through menial jobs.

"Some are dumped with the Malams by their parents who never show up again," said Jibrin Gunduwawa, a 70-year-old cleric who has been running his Koranic seminary for 30 years.

"We don't have enough for ourselves so we allow them to go out and beg for food and alms for their upkeep," said Gunduwawa, as around 80 children recited verses from the Koran on wooden slates, sheltered from the scorching tropical heat by a big neem tree.

Child begging is not unique to Kano, but experts say it exists there on a larger scale to elsewhere in Nigeria.

Sharon Oladiji, a national child protection specialist at the UN children's fund UNICEF, said child begging happened all over but was "predominant in the north."

Senator Eme Ufot Ekaette, who heads a child welfare panel in the national assembly, said they were called 'almajirai' in the north, 'area boys' in the south and west, and 'abandoned children' in the east.

"We feel very bad about this; it's a generation lost, a whole generation," she told AFP.

A thin line exists between child begging and trafficking for labour, said Ahmed Bello of Nigeria's anti-trafficking police, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons.

They are sent not only to beg but also to work on their teachers' farms.

"The children provide free labour for the teachers," he added. "It is sheer exploitation."

Bala Muhammad, who heads a state directorate created to promote morals and good behaviour in Kano, which follows strict Muslim Sharia law, chided parents who have more children than they can afford and see Koranic schools as a means to rid themselves of the extra burden.

He said there had been a "recent influx of thousands of these little boys into the city, some of whom are no older than babies."

Child beggars sleep rough, often in the open or on floors in crammed rooms provided by their teachers, and sanitation facilities are a luxury.

"The situation is becoming more pathetic by the day," warned Aminu Ismail Sagagi, an adviser to the Kano state government on child beggars.

Wealthier residents are forming groups to assist the "hapless" children in an effort to end begging.

Seven such groups have sprung up in recent months, a number Sagagi feels is "grossly inadequate."

They supply seminaries with the basics -- food, clothing, sleeping mats -- as well as building toilets and boreholes.

They also go on campaign tours to the villages encouraging parents not to neglect children they send to Koranic schools.

"We were motivated by the dire social consequences the harsh life these children live will have on society if they are not provided for," said Adamu Aliyu Kiyawa, founder member of the Almajirai Foundation, as he handed out supplies to a seminary in downtown Kano.

Kiyawa warned that with the north notorious as a hotbed of ethno-religious strife, child beggars could provide ready foot soldiers.

"Hungry and angry, these children could easily be mobilised to engage in killings and looting during such crises as an avenue to pay back (society), because they see everybody as an enemy," Kiyawa said.

Saudatu Sani, a federal legislator from Kano state who formerly headed a parliamentary committee on children's affairs, agreed. "We the elite have to provide for these child beggars for our and our children's safety.

"The pathetic life they live, breeds heartless criminals."

UNICEF's Oladiji said the strive to curb such begging signalled "a welcome change in attitude by society to reduce the vulnerability of these children."

Lawmakers say the funds budgeted for child welfare are not enough and are proposing a new national law to curb the trend.

But some residents fear that yielding to child begging may only worsen the problem.

"Providing for these children will only compound the situation because such pampering will entice more and more children from villages to the city, and we will be grappling with more than we can handle," said resident Musa Kabir.

almajiri state

bilymuse:

almajiri state

not only in KANO. in most Northern states what a waste>>>>>>>>>>>>>

de almanjiris, along with de ordinary people wey dey live for niger delta, are the most marginalized people in nigeria.

every well meaning nigerian should be ashamed of the plight of dis people.

ndu_chucks:

de almanjiris, along with de ordinary people wey dey live for niger delta, are the most marginalized people in nigeria.

every well meaning nigerian should be ashamed of the plight of dis people.

Do you know what they have in common? They have been let down and cheated by the northern elite. I am sure you know what I mean. The northern elite (politicians and military administrators) have denied the almajiis an all important education to be able to earn and a living and survive. They have done this because they want to continue to rely on this people to forment trouble when they need them to. Also the under-development of the north has been strategic in that it has prevented the northerners from gaining the required education and enlightenment necessary for challenging their corrupt leaders.

If you think of all that has been stolen by the northern elite from, coincidentally, the oil producing areas and the under-development in the north, then you will understand my point. Babangida, Abacha, Abdusalam, Buhari have all ruled Nigeria and they are/were all wealthy by all standards. What did the people who supported them get from it?

I am in no way exonorating southern leaders but at least, the south has been 'developed' somewhat and there are educated and 'enlightened' people in the south who occassionally challenge their corrupt leaders. I can only think of a few people in the North who have challenged their leaders, Balarabe Musa and Abubakar Umar, etc. For the rest, they prefer to dish out their stolen wealth to hungry people from time to time and use those people when they want to attack southerners.

@katsumoto, de northern elite wey you mention, indeed let down these people.

but no be only de heads of states wey me i go hold accountable. de leadership wey fail us include heads of state, governors wey no develop their states, ministers wey no implement federal programs and prefer to pocket budget money, member o de house/senate for federal and local levels.

you see, all these failed leaders come from just about every tribe. de issue of failed leadership goes beyond tribe or tribalism for me.

ndu_chucks:

@katsumoto, de northern elite wey you mention, indeed let down these people.

but no be only de heads of states wey me i go hold accountable. de leadership wey fail us include heads of state, governors wey no develop their states, ministers wey no implement federal programs and prefer to pocket budget money, member o de house/senate for federal and local levels.

you see, all these failed leaders come from just about every tribe. de issue of failed leadership goes beyond tribe or tribalism for me.

I agree with you, they have all failed and should be held accountable. While the southerners embezzle just to get rich and oppress their constituents, the northerners do it because they want to keep their people in the dark ages and use them as pawns in the grand scheme of things. At the end of the day, I think Nigeria as a nation will benefit from the education and enlightenment of the northern populace. With such education, the northern elite (sokoto caliphate) would be unable to use their citizens to foment trouble. Also more northerners would question their leaders.

While this may (education) may not solve all the problems in Nigeria, it would at least lead to a reduction in the number of riots and massacres of innocent southerners.

Katsumoto:

While this may (education) may not solve all the problems in Nigeria, it would at least lead to a reduction in the number of riots and massacres of innocent southerners.

ezeokwu!! i agree with you here, if you add de money wey dem budget for ministry of education at de federal level, and all the ministries of education for every state for de past 10 years; de money go don pass $10 billion!!

ndu_chucks:

@katsumoto, de northern elite wey you mention, indeed let down these people.

but no be only de heads of states wey me i go hold accountable. de leadership wey fail us include heads of state, governors wey no develop their states, ministers wey no implement federal programs and prefer to pocket budget money, member o de house/senate for federal and local levels.

you see, all these failed leaders come from just about every tribe. de issue of failed leadership goes beyond tribe or tribalism for me.

true talk, All these leaders under the guise of Afenifere, Ohaneze, arewa people's congress etc are for the most part a bunch of colluding crooks.