North’s Almajiri As Nigeria’s Albatross – THISDAYLIVE

By Mobolaji Sanusi

“The children of the poor you failed to train will never let your children live in peace.”
—Obafemi Awolowo((1909–1987).

Without any scintilla of doubt, any society that leaves untrained, the teeming population of its youth automatically risks being a breeding ground for inimical machinations. And for this reason, the North, through its almajiri system, is guilty of this, even when other regions of the country also have their inherent shortcomings.

Yours sincerely arrived at this fair conclusion for one reason: Despite that everything pre and post independence Nigeria worked in the North’s favour, that part of our land somewhat got its almajiri system wrong. And today, the export of products of that system have become the centerpiece of thriving social menace that makes our territory unsafe for people to peacefully live in because of fear and apprehension.

In fairness to the progenitors of the northern almajiri syndrome, it was not within their contemplation that the system will eventually become what it is today. In their minds, the system was meant to inculcate Islamic teachings and tenets into the lives of their offspring. They wanted to build an impervious ‘subservient Islamic society’ that even the British colonialists in pre-independent Nigeria could not tamper with. This is one of the reasons the colonialists adopted indirect rule in the Northern Protectorate while in the Southern Protectorate, it deployed the direct rule system of administration. Expectedly, time and tide have altered the principles behind the almajiri system, sadly in the negative sense.

An adumbrated historical scrutiny could help in shedding light on how the almajiri system came about in northern Nigeria. The term almajiri is ab initio depicting a pupil sent out by parents to live and study the Quran under the roof of an Islamic teacher. It has an ingrained tradition that is traceable to the Sokoto Caliphate and Kanem-Borno empire under a religious tradition where young boys from age four or five are left in the care of an Islamic scholar who taught them how to memorize the Quran and learn Islamic jurisprudence.

With the North’s subsequent bourgeoning population, and without commensurate institutional planning model, coupled with North’s rigid adherence to unquestionable religious values, the almajiri has drastically lost its initial essence, becoming in the process, the crucible for breeding street beggars and touts/gangs that are easy pawns in the chessboard of politicians. The almajiri, on several occasions, had been reportedly recruited as bandits and terrorists. Some Islamic teachers in the North reportedly indoctrinate them with radical and violent ideas that propel them to embrace destruction, including agreeing to become suicide bombers under the pretext that they will be welcomed into aljannah if killed in the process. These almajiri are largely Hausa, Fulani and Kanuri.

Question: How did the Fulani, Hausa and Kanuri of the North get to this sorry pass, caused by the almajiri syndrome to the point that everything criminally destructive is now being ascribed to them? The once-thriving North, credited as the bastion of commerce and agriculture that attracted traders and investors from far and wide, is now a shadow of its old self. The thriving groundnut pyramids, millets, sorghum, rice, cotton, maize, pure leather, textiles and livestock that made the North a beehive of commercial activities have all drastically declined due to leadership myopia, illegal exploitation of resources and incendiary ethno-religious beliefs and practices.

Why does the North remain so developmentally retarded despite having a large chunk of the nation’s leadership hailing from that region? Yours sincerely can reel out names of leaders – whether dead or alive, from the north who played dominant roles in Nigeria’s public service evolution. Certainly, they will not be proud of what their region has become in contemporary times. Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was Prime Minister of Nigeria between 1960 and 1966. General Yakubu Gowon, first military Head of State from that region, reigned from 1966 to 1975. General Murtala Mohammed served as Head of State between 1975 to 1976. President Shehu Shagari was elected president in the Second Republic and served between 1979 to 1983. General Ibrahim Babangida, the Maradonic military ruler, served from 1985 to 1993. General Sani Abacha, the brutish military ruler, held the country spellbound between 1993 to 1998. General Abdulsalami Abubakar came in after Abacha’s death to lead from 1998 and 1999. President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, also from the north, was president between 2007 to 2010. President Muhammadu Buhari first served as a military ruler from 1983 to 1985, and later as a democratically elected president between 2015 and 2023.

Despite this avalanche of North’s leaders, the region has sadly become a minefield of illegal mineral resource exploitation and a cornerstone of militancy and commercialised banditry. No wonder the North has suddenly become an albatross on the neck of an entire nation, despite the undeniable edge that it has over other regions.

The northern region has dominated the nation’s political cum institutional space more than any other region in the land. Scholarships are unjustifiably reserved for them. Employment/Recruitment opportunities in strategic state institutions and public corporations such as the military, intelligence service, police, customs, EFCC, ICPC, foreign service, petroleum and banking sectors and the federal civil service amongst others are reserved for northerners at the expense of better qualified Nigerians from the other regions on the basis of quota system and federal character. This advantage over other regions has not transformed the northern hemisphere of this country into an enviable eldorado. So sad!

Furthermore, of the thirty-six states, the North controls nineteen, with Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) also geographically part of the North. According to the contentious population census conducted by the National Population Commission between March 21 to 27, 2006, the North had a commanding 53.57%, translating to 75 million people from the country’s purported total population headcount of 140,003,542 while the entire Southern region questionably had 71,709,859 people. Yet, we all know that the North has a massive land mass that is largely uninhabited and fertile for agricultural purposes but remains underutilised due to its poor leadership, weak planning and, for over two decades, promotion of banditry.

Despite these rare socio-political and economic opportunities, it is sad that the North is not only retarded but also renowned for exporting young people without formal western education – a near ten million almajiri – to other parts of the country. To walk through streets of many states is to see almajiris everywhere as cart pushers, okada riders, street hawkers, menacing herders, gatemen (mai guard), water seller (mai ruwa), tea seller (mai shayi) amongst others. These set of northerners move in droves to Lagos state daily. This is without prejudice to the fact that some northerners have been living peacefully for decades with their Yoruba hosts in the centre of excellence, and in other states across the federation.

The failure of the progenitors of the almajiri system to integrate Western education into its curriculum was a major flaw. After all, in Saudi Arabia where the Islamic religion practiced in northern Nigeria originated, the wellbeing of children and youth is well prioritized. Under Saudi Islamic jurisdiction, there are no cases of untrained children or youth turning to banditry or other forms of criminality. Northern Nigeria needs to take a cue from Saudi Arabia government’s approach if vulnerable children are to be taken off the streets and the nation is to be saved from the challenges associated with the almajiri system.

With the ongoing escalation of insecurity in the country, the almajiri system, being a major contributor to banditry and other criminal activities requires an urgent attention from Northern leaders. An inspiring template already exists through former President Goodluck Jonathan whose administration invested over ₦15 billion to build 157 model Almajiri (Tsangaya) boarding schools across northern region. His initiative aimed to integrate Western education and vocational training into the traditional Islamic curriculum.

In order to address this current crisis, the success of that almajiri program should be reassessed and modified where necessary. The North needs redemption from the challenges posed by the almajiri system and the broader issue of its educational backwardness. There is no doubt that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu would gladly support such laudable efforts at this point in history. He definitely should for the overall security protection and welfare of citizens of this country.

NB:
Here’s wishing all Nigerians happy Democracy Day.

We must all strive and work for a true democracy that’ll be the pride of all with empirical dividends for the teeming populace to acknowledge and enjoy.

Achieving this is the only debt our governments and all of us owe the memory of Aare MKO Abiola (1937 – 1998), the great Nigerian who was martyred so that today’s democracy can be possible.

May the legendary Abiola’s gentle soul continue to rest in aljannah…..AMIN.

•Sanusi, former MD/CEO of Lagos State Signage & Advertisement Agency, is currently managing partner at AMS RELIABLE SOLICITORS.(WhatsApp Only-07011117777)