Agony of the almajiri child

At first instance, the almajiri child gets carried away with the freedom of being allowed to integrate with his peers without being monitored; but later in life, develops mixed feelings towards the rat-race lifestyle of fighting his peers while sharing the little they are given. The eldest, the boldest, the most aggressive and the strongest […]

At first instance, the almajiri child gets carried away with the freedom of being allowed to integrate with his peers without being monitored; but later in life, develops mixed feelings towards the rat-race lifestyle of fighting his peers while sharing the little they are given. The eldest, the boldest, the most aggressive and the strongest amongst them, becomes the dictator.

The ironical part of it all is that the almajiri child doesn’t even have time to concentrate much on the Islamic education that formed the basis of the condition he finds himself in. The almajiri child hardly takes his bath on daily basis and always appears unkempt in his worn clothes while some walk bare-foot. The almajiri child lives in a world in which the name of the game is survival of the fittest.

The almajiri child is denied the right to food, shelter, clothing and quality Islamic and western education by his parents or guardian due to reason of extreme poverty. The pathetic aspect of it all is that the almajiri child is also deprived the privilege of parental love, care and guidance.

The almajiri child often feeds on handouts or leftovers from strangers and wanders about without having a clue of where the next meal will come from. The almajiri child usually hangs around restaurants, markets, shops, petrol stations and houses. He begs for alms to survive and oftentimes chased away by people who may regard him a nuisance.

The almajiri child sleeps on mats, old cartons or on bare floors without knowing how it feels like sleeping on a bed. How the almajiri child treats himself when sick is a different story entirely. The almajiri child is exposed to the bad and the ugly, coupled with the agony of watching other privileged children being catered for by their parents before their very eyes.

The almajiris become more frustrated when he realizes how cruel he is being treated by his parents, guardians and the society at large. While some of the almajirais indulge in hard drugs as a result of peer influence, some end up as thugs, errand boys, labourers, professional beggars, etc.

Some adult almajirai end up in prisons for one criminal act or the other or may be awaiting trial because they have no resources to secure the services of a lawyer.

My dear readers, do you now understand why the almajirai easily fall prey to the hands of our wicked politicians who engage them in criminal acts and pay them peanuts at the end of the day? They use the almajirai as tools and dump them at will. They regard these innocent children as hopeless, without making any effort to give them hope.

It’s sad when we hear and watch some sponsored media propaganda documentaries on how some northern state governments regard the education or rendering of vocational trainings to the 5% of the almajirai population in the region as part of their achievements. The publicized number of the assisted almajirai is nothing when compared to the 95% of almajirai that are still languishing in extreme poverty.

The question now is why do we have only male children as almajirai? Why is it becoming difficult for the leaders to set up vocational institutions to meet the demands of the large population of the almajirai?

Should the almajiri phenomenon be abolished? If yes, what measures have the northern state governments put in place to educate and empower the parents/guardians of the almajirai who keep sending their children to the street? What are the religious scholars doing to educate the almajirai, the politicians, and the parents of the almajirai on family values?

Our northern politicians and the Federal Government should reconsider the almajiri issue. Giving the almajirai money when they come begging will not solve their problem. Our leaders need to go back to the drawing board and devise a proper programme of educating the almajirai and their parents/guardians on family values, and find ways of combating the existing extreme poverty in Nigeria.

Jibril can be reached through [email protected]