Ending Nigeria’s Almajiri tragedy
By 2027, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will undoubtedly campaign on his record in office. His supporters will point to economic reforms, infrastructure projects, tax policies, and investments. His critics will highlight inflation, hardship, and unmet expectations. But for me, there is one achievement that would outweigh almost every other accomplishment. If President Tinubu succeeds in […]
By 2027, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will undoubtedly campaign on his record in office. His supporters will point to economic reforms, infrastructure projects, tax policies, and investments. His critics will highlight inflation, hardship, and unmet expectations. But for me, there is one achievement that would outweigh almost every other accomplishment. If President Tinubu succeeds in ending the Almajiri system as we know it and replaces it with a modern, dignified, and productive educational system for every Northern child, he will earn my vote.
Ending Almajiri tragedy is important. Not because it is politically popular. Not because it will win elections. But because it would represent one of the greatest social transformations in Nigeria’s history. In fact, I could put it higher than the abolition of the highly exploitative Jangali (cattle tax) and the poll tax, in states controlled by Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) in northern Nigeria, in 1980.
Today, Nigeria faces one of the largest out-of-school children crises in the world. According to UNICEF, between 14.8 million and 20 million Nigerian children of school age are outside the formal education system. Roughly two-thirds of these children are concentrated in the North West and North East. Among the boys, a significant proportion belongs to the Almajiri system.
This is not merely an educational crisis. It is an economic crisis. It is a security crisis. It is a moral crisis. It is a civilisational crisis. Every day, millions of children wander the streets of Northern cities begging for food and survival. Most have little access to modern education, vocational skills, healthcare, or economic opportunities. They represent perhaps the largest reservoir of untapped human potential in Africa.
Yet many people continue to misunderstand the problem. The issue is not Islamic education. Islamic civilisation once produced some of the world’s greatest scholars, scientists, physicians, engineers, mathematicians, and philosophers. Whenever you use any computer or AI chatbot algorithm, you should remember the 9th-century Muslim polymath Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi. A product of Islamic or Qur’anic school who originated the concept of algorithm – a simple Latinization of Al-Khwarizmi’s name. Qur’anic education is an essential part of Muslim identity and should remain so. The problem is that the current Almajiri model no longer prepares children for the realities of the twenty-first century. The world has changed. The educational model has not.
More than a decade ago, former Presidents Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan attempted reforms through federal Almajiri schools. More recently, the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education (NCAOOSCE) was established to coordinate interventions. While these initiatives are commendable, they are unlikely to solve the crisis fundamentally. Why? This is simply because the challenge is not administrative. It is structural. The current thinking assumes that establishing a commission, building more schools, or creating another bureaucracy will solve the problem. Yet Northern Nigeria has witnessed decades of commissions, agencies, task forces, and intervention programmes with limited success.
The Almajiri problem persists because policymakers often focus on symptoms rather than causes. Years ago, while participating in extensive discussions among scholars, educators, and concerned citizens, I became convinced that the solution requires first-principles thinking rather than more bureaucratic expansion. The critical questions are surprisingly simple. What kind of child should the Almajiri system produce? What knowledge, skills, and values should that child possess? What curriculum will produce those outcomes? Who will teach such a curriculum? How will learning be measured? How will parents know their children are progressing? Until these questions are answered, every intervention will merely treat symptoms.
The first reform must, therefore, be redefining the objectives of Almajiri education. The traditional system was designed centuries ago to meet the religious needs of its time. Today’s child, however, must be prepared for a world shaped by artificial intelligence, digital technology, biotechnology, climate change, entrepreneurship, and global competition.
The Almajiri of Today will live in 2050. His education must prepare him for 2050, not 1850. This requires a blended curriculum combining Qur’anic studies with literacy, numeracy, science, technology, vocational skills, entrepreneurship, civic responsibility, and critical thinking. Interestingly, successful examples already exist in the Muslim world. Countries such as Bangladesh, Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and The Gambia have developed models that preserve Qur’anic education while integrating modern subjects and eliminating child street begging. In some cases, governments fund the schools while communities provide oversight. Graduates receive recognised certificates and can pursue higher education or vocational careers. Northern Nigeria can learn from these experiences.
The second reform must focus on teachers. No educational system can rise above the quality of its teachers. Many Mallams perform invaluable religious services under difficult circumstances. However, expecting them to prepare children for the modern economy without retraining is unrealistic. A twenty-first-century Almajiri school requires teachers who understand both Islamic scholarship and modern pedagogy.
The third reform must focus on measurement and accountability. In education, what is not measured is rarely managed. Student learning outcomes should be assessed systematically. Parents should receive credible feedback. Certification should be standardised and nationally recognised. The fourth reform must address financing. This is where many proposals fail. The answer is not another federal commission. The answer is not another government bureaucracy. The answer is not another intervention fund controlled by politicians. The Almajiri crisis itself emerged partly because existing institutions failed to provide sustainable educational financing.
Instead, President Tinubu should guide Northern governors to establish independently managed, community-driven Almajiri Education Trust Funds involving traditional rulers, Islamic scholars, philanthropists, businesses, alumni associations, development partners, and local communities. Such funds would be more accountable, culturally accepted, and financially sustainable than periodic government programmes. Most importantly, President Tinubu should declare a national goal that within five years no Nigerian child will survive by street begging in the name of education. This goal should unite governors, emirs, religious scholars, local governments, parents, civil society organisations, and the private sector.
The objective should not be to abolish Qur’anic education. The objective should be to abolish child street begging. The objective should not be to weaken Islamic institutions. The objective should be to strengthen them. The objective should not be to westernize Muslim children. The objective should be to empower them.
Imagine the impact. Imagine 10 million children transformed from street beggars into students. Imagine millions of future teachers, engineers, doctors, technicians, entrepreneurs, programmers, craftsmen, farmers, and innovators emerging from Northern Nigeria. Imagine the reduction in poverty. Imagine the reduction in insecurity. Imagine the economic growth. Imagine the restoration of human dignity. Imagine the lofty place of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the history of Nigeria.
History remembers leaders who solve problems others considered impossible. For decades, Nigerians have accepted the Almajiri crisis as inevitable. It is not. It is the result of choices. Different choices can produce different outcomes. If President Bola Ahmed Tinubu becomes the leader who finally reforms the Almajiri system, integrates Qur’anic education with modern learning, removes millions of children from the streets, and gives them a pathway to productive citizenship, he would accomplish one of the most significant social reforms in Nigeria’s post-independence history.
In that case, my decision in 2027 would be straightforward. He would have earned my vote.
El-Yakubu is a professor of Chemical Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Email: [email protected]