The journey to end the almajiri system in Northern Nigeria may have begun with Northern Governors giving their total backing to its immediate ban in the region.
This immediate action, according to the Northern State Governors, “would reduce the exposition of children to the dreaded Coronavirus. We have banned the almajiri system for fear that the children could be exposed to the Coronavirus in the region,” the Governor said after meeting.
Almajiri, a general name given to both student and destitute but with different meaning to each is a system whereby children are allowed to roam the streets begging under the cover of being Qur’anic students or just destitutes who earn their living as beggars.
The Governors, meeting for the second time in one month via teleconferencing, further discussed the issue of COVID-19 Testing Centres within the Northern Region where it noted some improvement, but again insisted that all States in the region should have at least one centre in order to make the detection of the disease and its management easier and faster.
Presided by the Northern States Governors Forum Chairman, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State, the Governors said that their decision was based on their resolution at the last meeting.
Governor Lalong said that he had a discussion with President Muhammadu Buhari where he conveyed their concerns on the need for the region to access special funding, palliatives, testing centres and other forms of support to assist the region deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said the President assured him of the support of the Federal Government within the context of Federal Government programmes both under the Coronavirus response and under other incentives to farmers and States.
On border control and lockdown measures, the Northern Governors retained their earlier decision for the states to individually decide on the measure to adopt, but reaffirmed the need for border closures to stop inter-state spread of the disease, which is rising in the region.
The Governors also discussed the risk that Almajiri children are exposed to because of the pandemic and unanimously decided to totally ban the Almajiri system and evacuate the children to their parents or states of origin.
They agreed to take a cue from Kano, Kaduna and Nasarawa States who have begun returning Almajiri children to families and states of origin, while those within their States who do not have parents are taken care of by the Government.
They vowed never to allow the system persist any longer because of the social challenges associated with it including the perpetuation of poverty, illiteracy, insecurity and social disorder.