Taming a deep seated social malady- The Almajiri Challenge in Northern Nigeria

Written by Hamza Ibrahim Baba

It is easy to quickly lump in the murderous carnage of Boko Haram that exploded across northern Nigeria in the last seven years with the series of senseless ethno religious crises which regularly have been happening in the north or the events of 2009 which led to the brutal killing (under captivity) of Mohammed Yusuf- the sect leader, but certain curious details of this season of anomie may suggest that we do not rush too quickly to such an emotion-fueled conclusion. We must not allow the flow of tears to blind us to remember the fact that northerners including some traditional rulers and some highly profiled politicians were targeted in the orgy of violence following 2011 elections.

Please permit me to skirt the political context of this violence which many other commentators have copiously and competently addressed. Let me instead dwell on the subject of the massive population of illiterate, unemployed and maladjusted young men in northern Nigeria who I have come to believe are just as much victims (offensive as it sounds at the moment) as they are culprits.

Many have tried to deflect attention from their own failings in comforting themselves properly by accusing Government of not educating and providing employment for the hordes of youth involved in one violence or another. Such ideas are reinforced by ideas propagated by some of my Northern collegues who have made a strong and reasoned case for the elimination of primordial proclivities within the Nigerian State, but also includes a comment about the education of northern Nigeria which demonstrates a certain inadequate appreciation of the challenge or even refusal to take responsibility.

I can hardly find any empirical basis to suggest that government has done more to educate southerners than it has northerners. Statistics from UBEC/NBS on primary education for instance is very telling. The total number of public primary schools in key northern states dramatically dwarfs those in the south as follows: Kano – 3066; Sokoto – 1,985; Kaduna - 3,034; Lagos – 906; Enugu– 1,108; Akwa Ibom – 1,093. Enrolment figures from the same source also show that in 2005, while Kano had 544,823 enrollees in public primary schools, Lagos had only 183,354. These figures suggest that if the south has any educational advantage, it is not conferred by government policy or actions. I suggest therefore that we explore a more reasoned perspective of the problem.

A census conducted in 2006 found that there were 1.2million Almajiri boys in my state Kano alone; recent national estimates put the total number of such boys at 10million (about the population of Tunisia). These are children in the age range of 6 and the mid-teens who have been effectively abandoned by their parents to Quranic ‘boarding schools’ which are often hundreds of kilometers from their homes. The children in return for the Islamic education provided by the Mallam are required to provide support for him even as they fend for themselves usually by roaming the streets to beg for alms: a UNICEF researcher found that 60% of these kids never return home. In this 21st Century of information and technology and with the abundance of Islamic knowledge at our backyard, there is no justification whatsoever for sending our kids to far places in the name of seeking for Quaranic education. No justification for that.

These kids are then from an early age schooled in knowledge not censored by any religious shura or sharia council; in certain instances of a radical bent. Put that together with the fact they are not given any other knowledge or skills that will enable them participate in the economy and what you get are young adults who have lived deprived of parental love; who are excluded from the economic life of the society; and in many cases indoctrinated with radical, negative ideas about people who are different in some respect from them. However, this on its own may not necessarily translate into a long term grave problem; what does is a far more sensitive and insidious reality.

When the average 13yr old Southern Nigerian female child is preoccupied with Introductory Technology as a school subject, her northern counterpart is condescendingly discussing the upcoming introduction to her prospective in-laws with her envious mates (she is going to be the fourth wife). Trace the trajectory of their lives and you will find that when an average southern girl is entering University at 18, her counterpart is in the third trimester of her 4th annual pregnancy. – they are now generations apart. Don't forget the psychological tortures these women pass through when their children are forcefully taken away from them at baby ages to be sent to cities for alamajirci. Add this to the fact that a sizeable number of these women are divorced at the slightest provocation / arguments. This is the height of inhumanity.

As ‘Nollywoodish’ as this sounds, it is everyday reality.The combined lifestyle choices of early marriage, multiple marriages and high birth rates in the north become an explosive mixture when you add the inevitable tinder of low literacy levels, poverty and political opportunism. A reality which features 10 million (and rapidly growing) ‘misfits’ whose only recollection of love was the scant attention they got from a mother who was hardly more than a baby making machine; who had started fending for themselves and others since they were 6; and whose view of the world is shaped largely by one man (malam) who himself is sometimes a dangerously mis-educated exploiter.

The growing menace of anarchist groups like Boko Haram, the recent avoidable massacre of hundreds of shiite followers and the General growing apprehension and state of insecurity and attacks on some prominent northerners hitherto considered untouchable institutions may be a dire warning that we are nearing the tipping point and the North as a people must now decide whether we want to evolve into a more progressive society or gradually become a theatre of violence one after another.

I have no doubt that the required lifestyle choices will not be easy to make because the status quo is viewed largely as a religious privilege or even imperative and even in some warped minds, a political advantage. However, we must must now realize that growth for the sake of growth is the philosophy of the cancer cell and ultimately, cancer cells die with the patient – they literally grow to death.

It is critical for the north to recognize that reproductive choices must be made with sustainability in mind. The fabric of society ultimately breaks down when children are birthing children to be raised by the streets.

This war for survival is not going to be led by a southerner, not by international Organisations, nor by federal government. The charge has to be led by the northern political class and intelligentsia.

We need a few good men. We need men who are bold enough to stand toe to toe against the established interest who will inevitably emerge to defend ideas that guarantee exploitation of the children and by extension the implosion of the region. This demon won’t be tamed back by half hearted wishes or lashing out defensively at phantom conspirators.

The time to act is now, tomorrow may be too late.

Hamza Ibrahim Baba
National Coordinator
Vendors for Positive Change Initiative
hamzababajawakd@gmail.com

Seriously the North needs reorientation but as always the elite will never support such initiative

This as an absolutely brilliant piece. This should be a front page stuff. But no. It's relegated to the dark corners of Nairaland to languish in its own brilliance... pls FP!

All I know is that buhari is in support of Fulani herdsmen killing nigerians. Why hasn't he shown any empathy to agatu people, but was quick to show empathy to those killed in foreign land.

Buhari is undoubtedly president of Northern Nigeria and not president of Nigeria.

Don't u just love Islam?

Seun, Lalasticlala & Dominic, this is front page material.

Abokii divide the zoo

Go and learn to recite Q'ran

Don't burden people with your problems

Manage your future

And stay outside the fence, you are not allowed in!!!

The almajiris will keep swelling in number because the muslims see population explosion as a tool of war against Christians.

What do they call him again?

Is it lalasticlala?

This is front page worthy

Hmmm, this writer couldn't have said it better, the menace of this almajirci is a serious one bedevilling the north which needs to be tackled sooner than later.

How i wish our leaders of northern extraction could do something about this particularly through effective legislation to stop those useless and misfit parents from sending their wards to far places to roam the streets in the name of acquiring Quranic education which is now available in our backyards.
This is the more reason why i always maintain that such parents are sending those helpless kids just to run away from their parental responsibilities.

Educate the Northerners and they would be fine