In less than a week, almost three northern states officially banned street begging. Both Kano and Nassarawa States immediately banned street begging by almajiris.
However, Sokoto State, one of the northern states where the culture of street begging has been ingrained, proposed the adoption of the Indonesian blend of Islamic and Western systems of education called the Pondok system, which is a clever way of proscribing street begging.
Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State did not only place a ban on street begging, but also said he had directed for the arrest of ‘roaming’ almajiris, warning that there would be punitive measures against defiant parents or guardians.
The governor gave the directive on Tuesday February 28, 2019, during the official launching of the Basic Education Delivery for All (BESDA) Programmes/Distribution of Offer of Appointment to 8,000 BESDA Teachers and Distribution of Instructional Materials to the integrated Qur’anic and tsangaya schools, at Sani Abacha Stadium, Kano.
Kano State Government had repeatedly said the intention was to sanitize, improve and widen the system under its free and compulsory education policy.
This includes the introduction of new Islamic cognate disciplines as well as sending teachers to teach English and mathematics at the schools under its education for all, the government maintained.
According to the governor, his administration is committing all the needed resources to ensure fthe ull integration of Qur’anic and tsangaya schools, adding that there is no reason why almajiris should be roaming the streets.
Part of the measures taken, the governor added, to ensure the successful implementation of the policy is that 25% of the annual state’s budget, 5% of its internally generated revenue (IGR), 1% of lthe 44 ocal government council allocations and 2% of every contract awarded in the state would all go to the State Education Trust Fund.
Few days later, Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State announced the prohibition of street begging by adolescents under the almajiri system in the state and warned that parents and/or guardians of children engaged in the practice would be punished.
The governor made the declaration while inaugurating the Volunteer Guards (Vigilante), Domestication of the Model Penal Code, Kidnapping Act Prohibition Law, and Child’s Right Protection Executive Order.
As part of its commitment to enforce the executive order, Daily Trust reported on March 5, 2020, that the Nassarawa State Government was making arrangements to deport 30,000 almajiris from the state to their states of origin. The state has, presently, 63,000 almajiris out of whom 40,000 are indigenes of the state.
Similarly, Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State has proposed a plan to replace the current almajiri system of education with Indonesian Pondok system of education.
The Pondok system is a modernized alamajiri system of education that blends Islamic and Western systems of education and tames students in one place under the tutelage of their ever-present teachers.
Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal disclosed this when he received the Indonesian ambassador to Nigeria, AVM Ustra Hendra Harashap during a visit to his office in Sokoto.
Sincerely, Sokoto State Government was taking a different route to arrive at the same stance as Kano and Nassarawa States.
Prior to Kano’s street begging ban, there were many attempts made by previous administrations in various northern states to ban the menace. Popular among them was the Kaduna State Government’s ban on street hawking, begging, and commercial motorcycle activities in the state capital and environs in March, 2017.
The move was the outcome of resolutions reached at the State Security Council meeting held at the Government House.
Kaduna State as many northern states is faced with a myriad of security challenges. And intelligence reports were pointing accusing fingers at the activities of the trio.
The state government was acting based on credible intelligence report of a threat to lives and property, the Special Assistant to the Governor on Media then, Samuel Aruwan, said.
The above notwithstanding, none of the executive orders by the four state governments has attracted attention and generated responses as that of Kano State. This is partly due to the complex nature of the state and/or how the culture of street begging has been entrenched that many see it as Islamic.
Hours away to the proscription of street begging by almajiris, the Kano State Council of Ulama, which is the apex body of Islamic religious scholars in the state, vehemently rejected the executive order describing it as “infeasible” and tagging the government’s move as “unserious”.
In an interview with Kano Focus (an online newspaper) the Chairman, Kano State Council of Ulama, Sheikh Ibrahim Khalil, argued that necessary steps towards curtailing the practice have not been taken or put in place before taking the decision.
On Friday, February 28, 2020, the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Sheikh Aliyu Isa Pantami in a joint interview with The Triumph disagreed with the Kano State Council of Ulama.
To him, it was inappropriate for the council to reject the government’s policy straightaway as parents are responsible for their wards. .
Sheikh Pantami said that the Council should have sat with the government to work out workable solutions to the menace of street begging in the state instead of unconditionally opposing the ban.
Additionally, on Monday March 2 this year, as reported by Daily Trust, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) urged the Federal Government to criminalise child abandonment by parents in Nigeria.
The MURIC director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, in a statement issued in Lagos urged the government to introduce a punitive measure with a view to reducing incidents of child neglect in the country.
The association, said Akintola, is worried about the large number of children roaming the streets especially in the northern part of the country.
He said: “Our children are our strength but that is only if we give them proper upbringing through a balanced education otherwise they become a sword of Damocles hanging above our heads.”
MURIC could not stop there. It called on the National Assembly and all state legislatures in the country to set the machinery in motion for the criminalization of child abandonment.
By the way, this hydra-headed monster of almajiri is worth paying attention to, as it is ravaging the region. On one hand there are symptoms of governmental and societal failure.
The truth be told, the north in this regard has refused to undergo attitudinal change. The region has suffered enough from inaction. If the system worked many decades ago; it cannot work now, as the region is fast, consciously or otherwise, undergoing social changes of some kind.
On the other, successive governments have failed the region due to their failure to establish a political blueprint for the region. It is half way truth to say that the region is aimlessly wandering on this giant ship called Nigeria.
It has the largest population, which is mostly youth; but unfortunately the successive administrations refused to invest; or better has not invested wisely in its teeming youth.
Irresponsible parenting contributes to the menace. Child neglect is a common practice among many households that one hardly differentiates between orphans and a child with surviving parents.
On the whole, there is no way the region can solve the problem of crime proliferation without securing the future, first, of those youth wandering its streets.
Abdulhamid wrote via abdullahiyassar2013@gmail.com
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Sky Daily
