For a region that have produced 9 out of 12 Nigerian heads of state and government that is a disgrace. One would imagine that the statistics proved that these leaders worked for the generality of Nigeria without favouring their people; far from it. The Northern Leaders have failed the nation and their people.

The reality is that these rapacious leaders ravaged Nigeria resources but concentrated the wealth in the hands of their families and their cronies.

I was brought up in Northern Nigeria; In Kontagora, Niger State to be precise. So I am an eye-witness of the gross social inequality and wealth imbalance that exists in the region. The massive gulf between the haves and the have-nots is appalling.

Nothing excites the average Hausa Alhaji more than having hundreds of his brethren trooping to his enclave in order to hail him and greet him ranka dede each morning. He distributes salaka; have them eat from his crumbs while he indulges in the yearly hajj to ensure that he enters Al-janna.

Like one Garbe Mohammed said, "It is difficult to find the suitable adjectives to describe the peculiar and depressing characteristics of the Northern part of Nigeria without sounding too offensive or condescending".

Northern Nigeria is the poorest and most backward part of Nigeria, and it is getting poorer and more backward! An Article by one Garba Mohammed in the Nigeria Village Square quoting Prince Obasi shows that The NAPEP figures on the incidence of poverty in the six geo-political zones in the country shows that In the North-West, 74 percent of the people are poor, that is they live on less than one dollar a day; in the North-East the poverty rate is 78 percent; North Central, the figure is 70 percent.

By contrast the South-West has about 28 percent; the South-South 30 percent, while the South-East, from where Soludo (lucky him) comes from, turned out to be the wealthiest part Nigeria with a poverty rate of 23 percent.

Garba went on to say that Obasi did not add, because he didn’t need to add, having used the portrait of a wretched beggar and his son to illustrate his views, that in addition to its poverty or may be because of it the North also has the highest concentration of beggars, of all ages, than anywhere else in the world; it has the lowest literacy rate in and the lowest per capita, or income per head in the country. It has its fair share of moral depravity too; from Kaduna to Kano and Sokoto, cases of 60-year old men defiling 14-year-old girls are rampant; in some cases fathers have been known to impregnate their under-age daughters!

Reading this one would be tempted to imagine that the other regions that are better-off in Nigeria have cornered the resources for themselves to the deprivation of their brothers in the North. I stand to be corrected, but I believe that Northerners have produced the highest number of billionaires in Nigeria.

Talk of the Dantatas’, the Dangotes’, the Babangidas’ and numerous others. As I said above, These greedy men have simply cornered the commonwealth to themselves.

I blame the Northern leaders, the backward northerners themselves and a religion that have conspired with the socio-political system in the North to consign the northerners to poverty.

Efforts to lift their people out of stupor have failed, their religion and social system have forced them to adopt a fatalistic outlook to life: “Allah zai ya kawo”;” Iko alla ne”; “Ba Mai yi, Sai Allah”

When I was schooling in the North, I paid my school fees as a non-indigene, while my fellow students not only enjoyed free education, but have free supplies of books and stationeries. Yet when I went back to visit a few years later, my old friends were busy selling gworo (kola nut) in the market; some already had 3 wives, with loads of children for good measure. When I told them I was still unmarried, they laughed incredulously.

Well, their appalling state serves quite well the interests of their leaders; after all, someone would have to supply the fodder for the incessant riots; to rig the elections and the thuggery that goes with it. for the full story, go here
http://elombah.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=555:nigeria-30-of-northern-youths-are-almajiris&catid=25:politics&Itemid=37

Interesting write-up. Guess what? That's a problem not just for the north, but for the whole nation. Incredibly, whatever happens to Musa in Kano affects is Okoro and Tunde counterparts in Enugu and Ibadan respectively.
Historically, Nigeria seems to be a place where the evil wins all the time. Sarduan's victory over Aminu Kano who advocated power to the common man is one good example.
The tragedy is that the educated, rich, and enlightened northerner also sees other parts of Nigeria as some sort of almajiri enclave. Do you know how many chieftancy titles IBB collected all over naija, as they sang his praises?

That is underestimated. Should be something like 85%

You guys should leave northerners alone.They generally have a different view and attitude about life.

This problem is not confined to the northern part of the country. Ever wonder how many kids in Lagos a State alone live on the streets?

There is a gamut of almajiris in Yorubaland too. I think the east and niger delta fair far much better.

What are the differences between almajiri,area boys/agboro?

See Yoruba almajiri here

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-149827.0.html

Aloy.Emeka:

What are the differences between almajiri,area boys/agboro?

Not much! Almajiri’s forcefully beg you for money, while agbero’s use any needed force to bully you into giving, and some go as far as to steal from you.

Not much! Almajiri’s forcefully beg you for money, while agbero’s use any needed force to bully you into giving, and some go as far as to steal from you.

I've never known them to be aggressive. It's the alayes that are very aggressive. Agboros actually work in garages and do not beg for tips.

Topic
OK

I remember having a couple of those kids hold on to me for over an hour all in the name of begging. I mean they were ready to go all over tejuosho with me. The store keeper had to chase them off with sticks in the end. roflmao!!

Kobojunkie:

I remember having a couple of those kids hold on to me for over an hour all in the name of begging. I mean they were ready to go all over tejuosho with me. The store keeper had to chase them off with sticks in the end. roflmao!!

Chai!

Aloy.Emeka:

What are the differences between almajiri,area boys/agboro?

Almajiri means sons of God, or those for whom God will provide-- I think. I know that rural Hausa families who have young boys as young as 5 years old give up these kids to the local mallam who is supposed to educate them from an islamic point of view during the night. However, during the day time these kids are suppossed to be out there scrounging and finding food for themselves, so that 'Allah could provide them with food' A mallam could have about 10-20 small boys who depend on nobody for food and care during the daytime. In any one Hausa city, Kano for example, there maybe 100s of these mallams each with about 20 students whose fulltime job during the day time is to find somethnig for immediate consumption. That's why it's easy to raise 'manpower' for any sort of gathering in the north. From political rallies, to demonstrations, to outright riots of any type.You can easily finding wandering and hereby almajiris to join the crowd at little or no cost.

Now compared that to an area boy/agboro, some of whom are married and have their own children, but just have to survive performing semi-legal tasks, the almajiri has a religious twist to his madness.

Kobojunkie:

I remember having a couple of those kids hold on to me for over an hour all in the name of begging. I mean they were ready to go all over tejuosho with me. The store keeper had to chase them off with sticks in the end. roflmao!!

you almajiri magnet

bawomolo:

you almajiri magnet

me sef wonder o. at some point some of those kids started selling sweets on molue.



_{cant stand calling them almajiri}

@post
in less than 50 replies,they have turned this one into a tribal issue again, hmmmn nigerians,
like i do most times,i wont blame the government seeing as its obvious they have neglected and totally abandoned their fiscal responsibilities but the individuals,who have tacitly ignored these issues untill it degenerated to this level,in my personal opinion nigerians in general not just the north have to see the issue of education and enlightenment in the north as a national crisis and adress it as such devoid of any tribal/ethnic bias

@post

in less than 50 replies,they have turned this one into a tribal issue again, hmmmn nigerians,
like i do most times,i wont blame the government seeing as its obvious they have neglected and totally abandoned their fiscal responsibilities but the individuals,who have tacitly ignored these issues untill it degenerated to this level,in my personal opinion nigerians in general not just the north have to see the issue of education and enlightenment in the north as a national crisis and adress it as such devoid of any tribal/ethnic bias

See who is talking about ethnic/tribal bias!

I mean it is hard to say No to those cute faces. Just that the way they hold on to you, it is sort of cute and creepy at the same time. You wonder if they would drag you in some corner and ambush you or something if you are not careful. My dad had a problem telling them no. The dude would gather Naira 1 bills each time we went shopping at Yaba or Oshodi markets, spends about 500 of those kids, each time. He says he sorts of feels guilty for living a good life abroad while those innocent kids walk the streets with nothing and no one. Roflmao!!

@Lucabrasi
We're talking about a present northern phenomena that has a tendency of becoming a national issue. The almajiri syndrome is a major issue in the north. The sons of the wealthy don't do this almajiri stuff. The sons of the wealth attend regular schools during the day time, while a whole bunch of other boys attend this parochial religious education as an alternative to a formal education. That's a serious national issue

Almajiri means sons of God, or those for whom God will provide-- I think. I know that rural Hausa families who have young boys as young as 5 years old give up these kids to the local mallam who is supposed to educate them from an islamic point of view during the night. However, during the day time these kids are suppossed to be out there scrounging and finding food for themselves, so that 'Allah could provide them with food' A mallam could have about 10-20 small boys who depend on nobody for food and care during the daytime. In any one Hausa city, Kano for example, there maybe 100s of these mallams each with about 20 students whose fulltime job during the day time is to find somethnig for immediate consumption. That's why it's easy to raise 'manpower' for any sort of gathering in the north. From political rallies, to demonstrations, to outright riots of any type.You can easily finding wandering and hereby almajiris to join the crowd at little or no cost.

Now compared that to an area boy/agboro, some of whom are married and have their own children, but just have to survive performing semi-legal tasks, the almajiri has a religious twist to his madness.

Arinze gi nna m.

asha 80:

@post
See who is talking about ethnic/tribal bias!

meaning,

naijaking1:

@Lucabrasi
We're talking about a present northern phenomena that has a tendency of becoming a national issue. The almajiri syndrome is a major issue in the north. The sons of the wealthy don't do this almajiri stuff. The sons of the wealth attend regular schools during the day time, while a whole bunch of other boys attend this parochial religious education as an alternative to a formal education. That's a serious national issue

its not only a national issue but a festering nat issue,which needs an all encompassing approach from all stakeholders, the problem is that most people are seeing it as a regional issue rather than a national issue

Everyone will see this issue from their own lense: personal, tribal, national, or even religious. To me it's a huge national security issue