I just came across this CNN article on Almajiris in Northern Nigeria and the threat they pose to Nigeria's stability.  The article makes frightening reading and the last few paragraphs of the article which was written about 4 months ago more or less predicted the outbreak of murder and mayhem that we have just witnessed in Northern Nigeria.   Some key excerpts from the article are as follows:

"A forlorn murmur of young voices echoes from a shack pieced together from rusted corrugated iron.  Inside more than 50 children with torn clothes and unwashed faces hunch over small wooden tablets or torn scraps of paper with sections of the Quran.  Above them stands a 20 year old with a small whip -  the children are here to memorize the Quran.  They are the Almajiri.  On the walls hang small bags with few belongings.  In these dark cramped conditions, the children must study, sleep and eat.

Council officials warn that the consequences of ignoring the children could be dire.  "They are a real threat - a real problem - to the society unless you address this issue now said Usman Jibrin the council's president.  "Otherwise, these children will one day take over control of this country - in a very unpleasant way"

The link to the full article is here   
http://articles.cnn.com/2010-01-07/world/nigeria.children.radicalization_1_religious-violence-religious-clashes-kano?_s=PM:WORLD

Now does anyone think anything would be done to improve the lot of these children even if Buhari had won?    Is it not the case that so called Northern leaders just use these children as foot soldiers and cannon fodder to advance and protect their interests?   Your comments are most welcome.

Sometime ago or more recently during his campaign in the north, GEJ said something about enrolling them in special tutorial and skills acquisition centres in other for them to gain some useful skills for life. If it happens then of course, its a good thing.

Another thing is for the security services to be strengthened which will involve close monitoring of their activities to minimise any sort of outbreak of violence, should one be on the horizon.

The security services  should also monitor the mosques and imams who, some of them, are notorious for inciting violence on the citizenry by commanding these almajiris.

Either way, SSS etc have their work cut out for them.

I don't have any training in intelligence gathering or analysis, but one thing that suggested to me that the Northern riots were the handiwork of politicians controlling and directing the imams was that when the almajiri rioters were shouting  "sai buhari" they did not say anything about his stance against corruption or his leadership qualities.  What they actually said what that they don't want "an unbeliever" like Jonathan Goodluck.  Notice also that they were burning churches and attacking Christians whom they consider to be "infidels" which is in line with what they had learnt from the imams who conduct their religious education.   Finally they also attacked Northern PDP leaders and traditional rulers whom they consider to have supported the candidacy of an infidel like Goodluck.   On the other hand they did not attack any imam or religious leader! Not  a single one.   You will also notice from the photographs of the arrested suspects that most of them look quite young and barely more than 20 years old. As such what we have seen  in the North are politicians working hand in hand with religious leaders to unleash a campaign of terror and intimidation on political opponents.   In my view one way to limit the activities of these opportunists is to licence the imams who take on almajiri students and compel them to allow their students to receive vocational instruction and training.   In addition their teachings and activities should also be closely monitored but I doubt whether there is any political will in the North to implement these changes.  After all once the Almajiris become enlightened and acquire skills to earn a livelihood, who will do the politicians dirty job?

kulutempa:

I don't have any training in intelligence gathering or analysis, but one thing that suggested to me that the Northern riots were the handiwork of politicians controlling and directing the imams was that when the rioters were shouting  "sai buhari" they did not say anything about his stance against corruption or his leadership qualities.  What they actually said what that they don't want "an unbeliever" like Jonathan Goodluck.  Notice also that they were burning churches and attacking Christians whom they consider to be "infidels" which is in line with what they had learnt from the imams who conduct their religious education.   Finally they also attacked Northern PDP leaders and traditional rulers whom they consider to have supported the candidacy of an infidel like Goodluck.   On the other hand they did not attack any imam or religious leader! Not  a single one.   As such what we have seen  in the North are politicians working hand in hand with religious leaders to unleash a campaign of terror and intimidation on political opponents.   In my view one way to limit the activities of these opportunists is to licence the imams who take on almajiri students and compel them to allow their students to receive vocational instruction and training.   In addition their teachings and activities should also be closely monitored but I doubt whether there is any political will in the North to implement these changes.  After all once the Almajiris become enlightened and acquire skills for the job market, who will do the politicians dirty job?

It all boils down to complete ignorance.

All northerners under the age of 65 should be educated/ re-educated by force by a Southerner.

They are already exploding. Now what do we do?

Nigeria is a complete waste. . . . at least for now.

[size=13pt]"A forlorn murmur of young voices echoes from a shack pieced together from rusted corrugated iron.  Inside more than 50 children with torn clothes and unwashed faces hunch over small wooden tablets or torn scraps of paper with sections of the Quran.  Above them stands a 20 year old with a small whip -  the children are here to memorize the Quran.  They are the Almajiri.  On the walls hang small bags with few belongings.  In these dark cramped conditions, the children must study, sleep and eat.

Council officials warn that the consequences of ignoring the children could be dire.  "They are a real threat - a real problem - to the society unless you address this issue now said Usman Jibrin the council's president.  "Otherwise, these children will one day take over control of this country - in a very unpleasant way"
[/size]

I see no one is bothering to read the message yet again!!!

and my youth in the south west,the best and brightest were for the most part those children who in addition to secular education were in struggle to acquire Islamic education. they had no time to waste. they were very disciplined; always on the go.

to ascribe the northern failure of the youth to islam is actually saying what is supposed to nurture and nourish the body and soul is the poison that is killing them.

i find that hard to accept, because arab students are also exactly as i have said of the south western youths in my experience.

a fertile mind if not cultivated properly, instead of remaining idle it becomes a tinder box. it explodes because the moral code is left to rot.

i am always sad to hear the word Almuhajirin bastardize and twisted so terribly that it has become the poster word for chaos as almajiri.

The article does not ascribe the Northern failure to Islam. Far from that. These people have nothing else but Islam available to them is what I read. These are majorly poor disenfranchised people in the society who have nothing else but their beliefs -- and yes, are manipulated by some of those they trust, within the religion -- but religion is not the problem. Poverty and lack of education/communication is.

If these present Almajiris are taken care of, what happens to the yet unborn? The problem should be address from the source and not from the middle. The parents of these guys should be educated on the consequences of having children they can not take care of.

[size=16pt]perennial bomb more like[/size], it not like they a=only riot when Jonathan got to power, they probably will go off more often seeing how incompetent the dude it

jerryben12:

If these present Almajiris are taken care of, what happens to the yet unborn? The problem should be address from the source and not from the middle. The parents of these guys should be educated on the consequences of having children they can not take care of.

How do you do that when some of the main reasons they have for having so many children is the believe that the more of those they have, the greater there chances of surviving?  I mean it's like the poor farmer who cannot afford machines to help him on the farm -- he goes and has 10 sons, why? So his sons can help on the farm and so increase yield so he can better feed his family.

pssttt

@Kobojunkie, u are so right, yet again people fail to see the issue at hand. Compulsory and free education to secondery school level is the solution.

Kobojunkie:

The article does not ascribe the Northern failure to Islam. Far from that.  These people have nothing else but Islam available to them is what I read. These are majorly poor disenfranchised people in the society who have nothing else but their beliefs  -- and yes, are manipulated by some of those they trust, within the religion -- but religion is not the problem. Poverty and lack of education/communication is.

So what are they learning in these Almajiri schools? What is the reasoning behind establishing these Almajiri schools in the first place? This is an excerpt from the article:

"The Nigeria-based Almajiri Education Foundation says on its Web site: " 'Almajiri' is a word borrowed from Arabic for someone who leaves his home in search of knowledge in Islamic religion. In the ideal situation, the communities should support these children as they leave their families to become a servant of Allah."

They are searching for Islamic knowledge, so how can you not blame the school--and Islam-- for not giving them a balanced education?

Also, why not outlaw these schools in the first place? I have suggested that  these schools be outlawed, but proponents of the school--through Nairaland-- usually respond and attack me by saying that Muslims have a right to practice their religion. So are these Almajiri schools an expression of Muslims, which would then be protected by the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion?

And if Islam has nothing to do with Almajiri schools, why not outlaw and abolish these schools and establish public school education for these poor children? What purpose do they serve in the North.

okunoba:

@Kobojunkie, u are so right, yet again people fail to see the issue at hand. Compulsory and free education to secondery school level is the solution.

These are people who require serious help from our Government, and they number in the millions. That is a time bomb waiting to go off soon. We already know that they are easily manipulated and remain disconnected from major information channels. So, it is imperative that the Government works now, not later, to reach them and help improve their lives as much as possible. Our Government is training Ex-mend members in the South --- similar should be extended to these people up North. Serious training is needed at all levels, and programs to help them dig their own selves out of th poverty need to be introduced.

wow the apologists have already started commenting!

okunoba:

@Kobojunkie, u are so right, yet again people fail to see the issue at hand. Compulsory and free education to secondery school level is the solution.

The solution is not compulsary free education.

These almajiris have parents that gave birth to them if i am correct why have children if you can not take care of them or if you are going to throw them in the streets. Why is it that it is only the male children that becomes almajiris while the females are kept at home to be married of as child brides only to be abandoned when they have VVF after child birth. There has been all kinds of education name it proposed for the north even normadic education to no avail.

I worked in the north of Nigeria the plight of those children are from the northern elites who have become wealthy at their expense. Federal allocation to most of the northern states are shared amongst the elites from the emirs how do you think they can eradicate the problem of almajiris when it is a way of life even before Nigeria had independence.


the emirs, sultan of Sokoto and the northern politicians are the cause of the problem.

The whole of Nigeria is a time bomb! Almajiris r proliferating in the north,area boys in the west,kidnappers in the east,militants in the SS! And all these groups keep multiply in frightening numbers.
It just seems as if the most intolerant are these northern rogues. Been sayin it for long any leader who can tackle corruption and unemployment has solved 99% of our problem.

@Princek12

It seems you genuinely need help to understand. But you already have so many answers to your questions in your own post. Let me first quote you to highlight these.

You wrote:

Quest. So what are they learning in these Almajiri schools? What is the reasoning behind establishing these Almajiri schools in the first place?
Ans. They are searching for Islamic knowledge,

You also wrote:

Q. Also, why not outlaw these schools in the first place?
Ans. Muslims have a right to practice their religion

Then you surprisingly ask:

if Islam has nothing to do with Almajiri schools

But of course Islam has everything to do with this almajiri schools since like you said they are searching for Islamic knowledge.

The important question you ask is

why not outlaw and abolish these schools and establish public school education for these poor children?

Of course at the present time these schools are not ideal or sufficient for any Nigerian. But if you think a bit you will realize that in Nigeria we do not develop. Ancient systems are still used in modern times. Nigerian Universities suffer the same fate to a lesser extent. The almajiri system was almost ideal when it was first introduced because many eminent scholars have been churned out from these schools, who have gone on to excel in science and all forms of western education.

Even though we now have private Islamic science schools in Nigeria that combine religious and western education, you dont have to be a rocket scientist to understand why these almajiris dont go to those schools. These free schools where they sleep, live, and beg for food to eat is the only available option to them.

If you are really concerned about the almajiris and really want to help, then pressurize and ask questions of the governments whose job it is to help these poor souls.

real4life,

I am not an Almajiri scholar, so I needed someone to help me understand them. So from your post I get that you support the abolishment of this Almajiri schools if the government can provide a good affordable public education for these kids.

When I said whether Islam has anything to do with, I meant that whether these children who attend these Almajiri schools attend because they had no public school option, or because they attend because their belief rejects "western education." Put simply, whether the children attend school for poverty reasons or for religious reasons.

Assuming the children attend for poverty reasons, then the solution is to abolish the schools or require that they update their curriculum so that it can incorporate other subjects taught in other schools.

Assuming the children are attending because they believe their religion requires that they stay away from western education, then that is another issue.

Princek12:

real4life,

I am not an Almajiri scholar, so I needed someone to help me understand them. So from your post I get that you support the abolishment of this Almajiri schools if the government can provide a good affordable public education for these kids.

When I said whether Islam has anything to do with, I meant that whether these children who attend these Almajiri schools attend because they had no public school option, or because they attend because their belief rejects "western education." Put simply, whether the children attend school for poverty reasons or for religious reasons.

Assuming the children attend for poverty reasons, then the solution is to abolish the schools or require that they update their curriculum so that it can incorporate other subjects taught in other schools.

Assuming the children are attending because they believe their religion requires that they stay away from western education, then that is another issue.

They should be upgraded not abolished. Islamic education is compulsory for Muslims and Western Education is very strongly encouraged by Islam.

Really people used to stay away from western education, but now almost everybody understands that the two must be combined.

Cheers.

@Kobojunkie

Princek12:

So what are they learning in these Almajiri schools? What is the reasoning behind establishing these Almajiri schools in the first place? This is an excerpt from the article:

"The Nigeria-based Almajiri Education Foundation says on its Web site: " 'Almajiri' is a word borrowed from Arabic for someone who leaves his home in search of knowledge in Islamic religion. In the ideal situation, the communities should support these children as they leave their families to become a servant of Allah."

They are searching for Islamic knowledge, so how can you not blame the school--and Islam-- for not giving them a balanced education?

Also, why not outlaw these schools in the first place? I have suggested that  these schools be outlawed, but proponents of the school--through Nairaland-- usually respond and attack me by saying that Muslims have a right to practice their religion. So are these Almajiri schools an expression of Muslims, which would then be protected by the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion?

And if Islam has nothing to do with Almajiri schools, why not outlaw and abolish these schools and establish public school education for these poor children? What purpose do they serve in the North.

You mean well but there is little more the federal government can do in these states where Almajiris abound. These states constitute the so called "Educationally Less disadavantaged states (ELDS)" and they have have been receiving funds from the federal government allocation since the 1970's. They get free education where the rest of Nigeria do not. They get scholarship and grants that people from other parts of nigeria can only dream of. They are the reason why Nigeria uses quota sytem like mad (with the hope that they will someday catch up). When OBJ came into power these states with all these Almajiris decided to go Sharia. If it is possible to seperate the state from religion then things might be different. The funds gotten from the federal govt are used to fund these so called Islamic schools to the detriment of western education because they believe western education is bad (hence "Boko Haram). It is sad, very sad.

Sounds pretty familiar. I wonder whether there aren't southern Nigerian children that are neglected by the government. Some resort to crime and some in the Niger Delta picked up arms to revolt against the government. However, the Almajiri's are a result of Islamism point blank.

http://www.newsi.es/crowds-protest-christian-governor-in-south-egypt/886251/
Crowds Protest Christian Governor in South Egypt
April 23, 2011 By Joey Barclay
Thousands of Egyptians leaded by assertive Islamists raised their protests over the selection of a Coptic Christian governor in southern Egypt, intensifying disbelieve among religious communities in the rutted consequences of Egypt’s revolution.

Protests looking forward to oust the governor of Qena province are experimenting the skills of Egypt’s transitional military leaders and the temporary government to hold an Islamic movement competent of assembling huge figures behind its hard-line plan devoid of risking the future of a democratic Egypt.

As President Hosni Mubarak’s expelled out in February after an 18-day famous revolt, ultraconservative Islamist crowds have been pledging to take a livelier political role as Egypt charts its conversion to democracy.

Friday’s protests were the biggest so far in the movement in opposition to the newly hired Qena governor, Emad Mikhail, and overlapped with Good Friday services for the majority of Egypt’s expected 10 million Christians.

Protesters moved out after Friday weekly Muslim prayer services and assembled in front of the governor’s office and at additional public squares, asking for Mikhail to be substituted by a Muslim governor.

Protesters obstructed main train lines, blocked major roads and took over government constructions.

The mass of the activists were driven by a sectarian reason, saying it is not appropriate for a Christian to govern Muslims, who make up the greater part of the population.

Egypt’s provisional prime minister sent a key government minister in charge of security to convene with the protesters but they sent him unsuccessful in convincing them to unblock the roads and train lines.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usman_dan_Fodio

Usman dan FodioFrom

Sultan of Sokoto, Amir al-Muminin
Reign 1804-1815
Born 1754
Birthplace Gobir
Died 1817
Place of death Sokoto
Buried Hubare, Sokoto.[1]
Successor Eastern areas (Sokoto):
Muhammed Bello, son.
Western areas (Gwandu):
Abdullahi dan Fodio, brother.
Wives Maimuna
Aisha
Hauwa
Hadiza
Offspring 23 children, including:
Muhammed Bello
Nana Asmau
Abu Bakr Atiku
Dynasty Sokoto Caliphate
Father Muhammadu Fodio (Legal and Religious teacher)
Shaihu Usman dan Fodio (Arabic: عثمان بن فودي ، عثمان دان فوديو‎), born Usuman ɓii Foduye, (also referred to as Shaikh Usman Ibn Fodio, Shehu Uthman Dan Fuduye, or Shehu Usman dan Fodio, 1754–1817) was the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate in 1809, a religious teacher, writer and Islamic promoter. Dan Fodio was one of a class of urbanized ethnic Fulani living in the Hausa States in what is today northern Nigeria. A teacher of the Maliki school of law and the Qadiriyyah order of Sufism, he lived in the city-state of Gobir until 1802 when, motivated by his reformist ideas and under increased repression by local authorities, he led his followers into exile. This exile began a political and social revolution which spread from Gobir throughout modern Nigeria and Cameroon, and was echoed in an ethnicly Fula-led Jihad movement across West Africa. Dan Fodio declined much of the pomp of rulership, and while developing contacts with religious reformists and Jihad leaders across Africa, he soon passed actual leadership of the Sokoto state to his son, Muhammed Bello.

Dan Fodio wrote more than a hundred books concerning religion, government, culture and society. He developed a critique of existing African Muslim elites for what he saw as their greed, paganism, or violation of the standards of Sharia law, and heavy taxation. He encouraged literacy and scholarship, including for women, and several of his daughters emerged as scholars and writers. His writings and sayings continue to be much quoted today, and is often affectionately referred to as Shehu in Nigeria. Some followers consider dan Fodio to have been a Mujaddid, a divinely inspired "reformer of Islam".[2]

Dan Fodio's uprising is a major episode of a movement described as the Fulani (Peul) hegemonies in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It followed the jihads successfully waged in Fuuta-Ɓundu, Fuuta-Jalon and Fuuta-Tooro between 1650 and 1750, which led to the creation of those three islamic states. In his turn, Shehu inspired a number of later West African jihads, including those of Masina Empire founder Seku Amadu, Toucouleur Empire founder El Hadj Umar Tall (who married one of dan Fodio's granddaughters), and Adamawa Emirate founder Modibo Adama.

Contents [hide]
1 Training
2 The Fulani War
3 Religious and political impact
4 Writing
5 See also
6 References
6.1 Web sites
6.2 Other primary sources
6.3 Other secondary sources
7 See also

[edit] TrainingDan Fodio was well-educated in classical Islamic science, philosophy and theology and became a revered religious thinker. His teacher, Jibril ibn 'Umar, argued that it was the duty and within the power of religious movements to establish the ideal society free from oppression and vice. His teacher was a North African Muslim alim who gave his apprentice a broader perspective of the Muslim reformist ideas in other parts of the Muslim world. Dan Fodio used his influence to secure approval to create a religious community in his hometown of Degel that would, dan Fodio hoped, be a model town. He stayed there for 20 years, writing, teaching and preaching.

In 1802, the ruler of Gobir and one of dan Fodio's students, Yunfa turned against him, revoking Degel's autonomy and attempting to assassinate dan Fodio. Dan Fodio and his followers fled into the western grasslands of Gudu where they turned for help to the local Fulani nomads. In his book Tanbih al-ikhwan ’ala ahwal al-Sudan (“Concerning the Government of Our Country and Neighboring Countries in the Sudan”) Usman wrote: “The government of a country is the government of its king without question. If the king is a Muslim, his land is Muslim; if he is an Unbeliever, his land is a land of Unbelievers. In these circumstances it is obligatory for anyone to leave it for another country”.[3] Usman did exactly this when he left Gobir in 1802. After that, Yunfa turned for aid to the other leaders of the Hausa states, warning them that dan Fodio could trigger a widespread jihad.[4]

[edit] The Fulani WarUsman dan Fodio was proclaimed Amir al-Muminin or Commander of the Faithful in Gudu. This made him political as well as religious leader, giving him the authority to declare and pursue a jihad, raise an army and become its commander. A widespread uprising began in Hausaland. This uprising was largely composed of the Fulani, who held a powerful military advantage with their cavalry. It was also widely supported by the Hausa peasantry who felt over-taxed and oppressed by their rulers. Usuman started the jihad against Gobir in 1804.

The Fulani communication during the war was carried along trade routes and rivers draining to the Niger-Benue valley, as well as the delta and the lagoons. The call for jihad did not only reach other Hausa states such as Kano, Katsina and Zaria but also Borno, Gombe, Adamawa, Nupe and Ilorin. These were all places with major or minor groups of Fulani alims.

After only a few short years of the Fulani War, dan Fodio found himself in command of the largest state in Africa, the Fulani Empire. His son Muhammed Bello and his brother Abdullahi carried out the jihad and took care of the administration. Dan Fodio worked to establish an efficient government grounded in Islamic law. After 1811, Usman retired and continued writing about the righteous conduct of the Muslim belief. After his death in 1817, his son, Muhammed Bello, succeeded his as amir al-mu’minin and became the ruler of the Sokoto Caliphate, which was the biggest state south of the Sahara at that time. Usman’s brother Abdullahi was given the title emir of Gwandu, and he was placed in charge of the Western Emirates, Nupe and Ilorin. Thus, all Hausa states, parts of Nupe, Ilorin and Fulani outposts in Bauchi and Adamawa were all ruled by a single politico-religious system. From the time of Usman dan Fodio there were twelve caliphs, until the British conquest at the beginning of the twentieth century.

[edit] Religious and political impactMany of the Fulani led by Usman dan Fodio were unhappy that the rulers of the Hausa states were mingling Islam with aspects of the traditional regional religion. Usuman created a theocratic state with a stricter interpretation of Islam. In Tanbih al-ikhwan ’ala ahwal al-Sudan, he wrote: “As for the sultans, they are undoubtedly unbelievers, even though they may profess the religion of Islam, because they practice polytheistic rituals and turn people away from the path of God and raise the flag of worldly kingdom above the banner of Islam. All this is unbelief according to the consensus of opinions.”[5]

In Islam outside the Arab World, David Westerlund wrote: “The jihad resulted in a federal theocratic state, with extensive autonomy for emirates, recognizing the spiritual authority of the caliph or the sultan of Sokoto.”[6]

Usman addressed in his books what he saw as the flaws and demerits of the African non-Muslim or nominally Muslim rulers. Some of the accusations made by him were corruption on various levels of the administration along with injustice regarding ordinary people's rights. Usman also criticized the heavy taxation and obstruction created in the business and trade of the Hausa states by the legal system.

[edit] WritingUsman dan Fodio wrote about 480 poems in Arabic, Fulfulde and Hausa.[7]

knuckbuck:

@Kobojunkie
You mean well but there is little more the federal government can do in these states where Almajiris abound. These states constitute the so called "Educationally Less disadavantaged states (ELDS)" and they have have been receiving funds from the federal government allocation since the 1970's. They get free education where the rest of Nigeria do not. They get scholarship and grants that people from other parts of nigeria can only dream of. They are the reason why Nigeria uses quota sytem like mad (with the hope that they will someday catch up). When OBJ came into power these states with all these Almajiris decided to go Sharia. If it is possible to seperate the state from religion then things might be different. The funds gotten from the federal govt are used to fund these so called Islamic schools to the detriment of western education because they believe western education is bad (hence "Boko Haram). It is sad, very sad.  

May I suggest that rather than reading up on theories behind ideas, we go out there to learn if the ideas we speak of are even being implemented in anyway. It is one thing for an area to "receive funds", and another for same area to actually be impacted by funds recieved. That is a major concern both in the south and the North. Our school system receives some level of funding each year as well but for the last 20 or so years, it is clear that the same system has been deteriorating at a rapid level.

More than anything else, we need to stop pretending we are daft in all this. We are supposed to be the educated and informed ones and I suggest we start thinking harder to save our own lives( as I believe it may come down to that someday if we continue this way). You suggest that the Almajiris decided to go Sharia, and I cannot help but ask exactly when you heard of them, the poor disenfranchised people of the North, coming together to vote for Sharia the way it turned out for them? This is not a case of separation of state from Religion. Sharia exists . . . we get it but it has little or nothing to do with the current problem(or I should say this problem that has been stewing for a while now). The poor and the needy outnumber the educated in the Northern region and the more we sit back pretending it is not our problem, the worse the potential disaster grows.

If you are really concerned about getting rid of sharia, then I suggest you go after those they have in senate and the house of reps. They are the only ones who can do much about that at this point.

677ano:

The solution is not compulsary free education.

These almajiris have parents that gave birth to them if i am correct why have children if you can not take care of them or if you are going to throw them in the streets. Why is it that it is only the male children that becomes almajiris while the females are kept at home to be married of as child brides only to be abandoned when they have VVF after child birth. There has been all kinds of education name it proposed for the north even normadic education to no avail.

I worked in the north of Nigeria the plight of those children are from the northern elites who have become wealthy at their expense. Federal allocation to most of the northern states are shared amongst the elites from the emirs how do you think they can eradicate the problem of almajiris when it is a way of life even before Nigeria had independence.


the emirs, sultan of Sokoto and the northern politicians are the cause of the problem.

You are absolutely spot on.  There is an article in a past edition of Tell magazine which deals at length with the Almajiri issue.  Key excerpts are as follows:

Salisu Tambuwal, a Zamfara-based Islamic scholar, reads hypocrisy into the supposed efforts of the northern governors. He says for the nine years some impact should have been made in the area of poverty alleviation, which is the root cause of this problem. To him, “there is no sincerity in their hearts because if they eradicate the problem, there will be no place for them to recruit political thugs, and that is why what we hear on daily basis is government officials going to Malaysia and Egypt to understudy how their own Tsangaya system is run.” Tambuwal alludes to reports of some panels probing ethno-religious crises in the region, which indicted almajiris as being ready foot soldiers oiling the vehicle of conflagration.

Mustapha Sani, another Tsangaya student for eight years, describes the much- talked-about plan by government to integrate the Tsangaya system into formal education as a fluke. “We are tired of so much talk, but no action as many government officials have come to our school to record our number and needs but nothing comes out of it,” says Sani.

This brings to the fore another aspect of the conflict where mallams and the pupils see the reform as a threat to their religious belief. T[b]he age-long cultural and religious belief in the North is that western education has no value to the Muslim. Perhaps, the reality is that the mallams see the move as a way of scrapping their means of survival.[/b] For instance, such a reform will take away the midweek tax, called ``Kudin Sati``, imposed on all almajiris by the teachers.

The article is quite lengthy but enquiring minds may want to read it on the following link:  
http://www.citizensfornigeria.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=262

The sheer hypocrisy of these so called leaders and mallams and their ruthless exploitation of children is shocking in the extreme.    Fela Kuti was right: Imamu dey gbaladun.

where is the northern islamic voice to speak out against this?

NOWHERE,

why?

easy answer: t0o gay to speak out against this

you can force a camel to the river but you cant force it to drink.force them to go to school and you will have university graduates that cant spell their names.western education is several times more advanced and more useful than islamic or any orther form of  education and unless the northerner themselves accept western education as the primary form of education, and islamic as secondary, there is really not much the government can do for them.

Almajiris are victims of child abuse, they need our help.  If only these people were half educated their anger would have been directed at people like Babangida, Buhari, Abduldsalam, Shagari and the Emirs who are the course of their pain and suffering, not the christians or Southerners. Nigerian leaders are evil. I just hope Jonathan will put a stop to this most cruel form of child abuse. Ironic that these same Almajiris are the ones always willing to kill for these evil and selfish Northern leaders who do nothing for them other than steal government funds. Yet they had the audacity to introduce sharia law, knowing full well it will only be used to prosecute the poor.  

Sai Buhari, in over 30yrs of being in power as, a minister, governor and head of state,never came up with any programme  to make the life of these Almajiris better. Sadly that is the same man they are killing for. They turn these youths into Zombies to be used for their own selfish needs.

Voiceless Almajiris
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7796109.stm