By Prince Azubuike Esq
‘If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of
nature, but by our institutions, GREAT IS OUR SINS’ – Charles
Darwin (emphasis mine)
The corona virus pandemic has indeed impacted on all social
fabric of our dear nation. One aspect of our lives that had been
greatly impacted by this global pandemic is our educational system,
and of course the Almajiri educational system has been singled out
as arguably the worst hit and has awakened the call for we to
appraise and re-evaluate the kind of education we are actually
given out to our generation. For an educational system that does
not equip the mind to be self-reliant and proffer challenges
affecting the society is nothing short of slavery.
An Almajiri (feminine Almajira, plural Almajirai) is an Arabic
word ‘Al-Muhajir’ which means a seeker of Islamic knowledge. Its
origin can be traced from the migration of Prophet Mohammed (SAW)
from Mecca to Medina. Those who migrated with the prophet to Medina
were called ‘Al – Muhajirrun’ meaning migrants. The word Almajiri
in Nigeria is used to refer to those who left their villages,
towns, parents, relations and friends in search of Islamic
knowledge and scholarship.
An Almajiri is usually expected to be educationally oriented in
the tenets of Islam in his early childhood to groom him for a
decent Muslim adulthood. But the common norm of Northern Nigeria
today had deviated from this practice, giving way to a mob of
bow-carrying children wandering the streets of Northern Nigeria and
constituting nuisance to all and sundry. Begging is the most
discomforting aspect of the Almajiri system as it brings the pupil
out of the supervision of the mallams, singing and begging for food
and money thus, exposing them to all manner of truancy and
exploitations including but not limited to cultism, prostitution
and terrorism.
Today, the Almajirai are victims of neglect, and the Covid – 19
pandemic have exposed the modus operandi of this kind of education
and calling for a thorough rethinking on the way forward. In recent
weeks, we have seen videos of these innocent teenagers expelled
from their state of residence and as a result searching for means
of securing the necessity of life.
In countries where accountability is the hallmark of leadership,
political, military and economic leaders past and present from
Northern Nigeria should be ashamed of what is happening in the
region. For the most serious failure of leadership is the failure
to foresee. The failure of Northern oligarchs to foresee the
situation of the North today marks them out negatively in the field
of leadership.
In the 60 years of our nationhood, persons of Northern
extraction whether in military or civilian, have been in charge of
the country’s political leadership for over 44 years in this order
– Tafarwa Balewa, 6 years; Yakubu Gowon, 9 years; Murtala Ramat
Mohammed, 1 year plus; Shehu Shagari, 4 years plus; Muhammadu
Buhari, 2 years plus; Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, 8 years; Sani
Abacha, 5 years; Abdusalam Abubakar, 1 year; Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, 3
years; Buhari again, 5 years and still counting.
It would therefore be empirically safe to conclude that if the
trouble with Nigeria is the failure of leadership, the region that
has over 73% of political power control can be said to have
contributed the significant chunk of it. What we are seeing today
coming out from the North, bunch of Covid – 19 infected Almajirai
being carried in containers like cargos and in trailers and lorries
covered with animals in search of livelihood down south who were in
power for only 16 years calls for a resetting of political
leadership in the region and indeed in the country. It also
underscores the fact that holding power is just self-aggrandizement
of a few and not for the generality of the poor.
At independence in 1960, schools in the entire North was below
50 while over 800 existed in the South, yet there was no effort to
close this gap. Today, out of the 79 private universities in the
country, North-East and North-West have only five. It is high time
the Almajiri educational system be scrapped in its entirety as it
has not helped the children, it has not helped the states
accommodating these Almajirai, and of course, it has not helped the
country.
The situation of these children and by extension the entire
north today attests to the fact that politics does not enhanced the
livelihood of the people if it is not played with development in
mind. It is now becoming manifest that all the resistance to
political change from the region are self-driven by lazy political
oligarchy clinging on to power and afraid of hard work and
creativity which will be the basis of survival in a restructured
Nigeria.
The dehumanizing pains that the Almajirai are currently going
through across the country is clearly an outcome of failed
leadership who closed their eyes to the fact of development and
choose to engage in self-denial and deceit. Now reality have
arrived.
It is from these Almajirai that herdsmen and bandits are
harvested, terrorists and suicide bombers are recruited, and the
Almajirai have been reduced to a time bomb only waiting to explode.
I therefore call on the Northern leadership to change its strategy
by closing down the Almajiiri school system in its entirety and
empower these young lads with skills that will make them
competitive in the 21st century Nigeria. If this is not
done, we (North and South) will be consume in the impending
disaster that is looming. For it is only a matter of time, and when
that time comes, be rest assured I will run faster that Usain
Bolt.
Prince Azubuike Esq., Partner, West Law
Solicitors, Port Harcourt
By Prince Azubuike Esq
‘If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of
nature, but by our institutions, GREAT IS OUR SINS’ – Charles
Darwin (emphasis mine)
The corona virus pandemic has indeed impacted on all social
fabric of our dear nation. One aspect of our lives that had been
greatly impacted by this global pandemic is our educational system,
and of course the Almajiri educational system has been singled out
as arguably the worst hit and has awakened the call for we to
appraise and re-evaluate the kind of education we are actually
given out to our generation. For an educational system that does
not equip the mind to be self-reliant and proffer challenges
affecting the society is nothing short of slavery.
An Almajiri (feminine Almajira, plural Almajirai) is an Arabic
word ‘Al-Muhajir’ which means a seeker of Islamic knowledge. Its
origin can be traced from the migration of Prophet Mohammed (SAW)
from Mecca to Medina. Those who migrated with the prophet to Medina
were called ‘Al – Muhajirrun’ meaning migrants. The word Almajiri
in Nigeria is used to refer to those who left their villages,
towns, parents, relations and friends in search of Islamic
knowledge and scholarship.
An Almajiri is usually expected to be educationally oriented in
the tenets of Islam in his early childhood to groom him for a
decent Muslim adulthood. But the common norm of Northern Nigeria
today had deviated from this practice, giving way to a mob of
bow-carrying children wandering the streets of Northern Nigeria and
constituting nuisance to all and sundry. Begging is the most
discomforting aspect of the Almajiri system as it brings the pupil
out of the supervision of the mallams, singing and begging for food
and money thus, exposing them to all manner of truancy and
exploitations including but not limited to cultism, prostitution
and terrorism.
Today, the Almajirai are victims of neglect, and the Covid – 19
pandemic have exposed the modus operandi of this kind of education
and calling for a thorough rethinking on the way forward. In recent
weeks, we have seen videos of these innocent teenagers expelled
from their state of residence and as a result searching for means
of securing the necessity of life.
In countries where accountability is the hallmark of leadership,
political, military and economic leaders past and present from
Northern Nigeria should be ashamed of what is happening in the
region. For the most serious failure of leadership is the failure
to foresee. The failure of Northern oligarchs to foresee the
situation of the North today marks them out negatively in the field
of leadership.
In the 60 years of our nationhood, persons of Northern
extraction whether in military or civilian, have been in charge of
the country’s political leadership for over 44 years in this order
– Tafarwa Balewa, 6 years; Yakubu Gowon, 9 years; Murtala Ramat
Mohammed, 1 year plus; Shehu Shagari, 4 years plus; Muhammadu
Buhari, 2 years plus; Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, 8 years; Sani
Abacha, 5 years; Abdusalam Abubakar, 1 year; Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, 3
years; Buhari again, 5 years and still counting.
It would therefore be empirically safe to conclude that if the
trouble with Nigeria is the failure of leadership, the region that
has over 73% of political power control can be said to have
contributed the significant chunk of it. What we are seeing today
coming out from the North, bunch of Covid – 19 infected Almajirai
being carried in containers like cargos and in trailers and lorries
covered with animals in search of livelihood down south who were in
power for only 16 years calls for a resetting of political
leadership in the region and indeed in the country. It also
underscores the fact that holding power is just self-aggrandizement
of a few and not for the generality of the poor.
At independence in 1960, schools in the entire North was below
50 while over 800 existed in the South, yet there was no effort to
close this gap. Today, out of the 79 private universities in the
country, North-East and North-West have only five. It is high time
the Almajiri educational system be scrapped in its entirety as it
has not helped the children, it has not helped the states
accommodating these Almajirai, and of course, it has not helped the
country.
The situation of these children and by extension the entire
north today attests to the fact that politics does not enhanced the
livelihood of the people if it is not played with development in
mind. It is now becoming manifest that all the resistance to
political change from the region are self-driven by lazy political
oligarchy clinging on to power and afraid of hard work and
creativity which will be the basis of survival in a restructured
Nigeria.
The dehumanizing pains that the Almajirai are currently going
through across the country is clearly an outcome of failed
leadership who closed their eyes to the fact of development and
choose to engage in self-denial and deceit. Now reality have
arrived.
It is from these Almajirai that herdsmen and bandits are
harvested, terrorists and suicide bombers are recruited, and the
Almajirai have been reduced to a time bomb only waiting to explode.
I therefore call on the Northern leadership to change its strategy
by closing down the Almajiiri school system in its entirety and
empower these young lads with skills that will make them
competitive in the 21st century Nigeria. If this is not
done, we (North and South) will be consume in the impending
disaster that is looming. For it is only a matter of time, and when
that time comes, be rest assured I will run faster that Usain
Bolt.
Prince Azubuike Esq., Partner, West Law
Solicitors, Port Harcourt