Of recent, a preponderant number of Northern elite have been talking about the social and security threats posed by the army of out-of-school children otherwise known as the Almajiris in the North and the nation in general. Prominent Northerners, including the deposed Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, have expressed concerns over the menace that has denied so many children in the region their rights to basic education.
I wouldn’t know why Senator Aliero decided to sponsor a fresh motion on the integration of Almajiri into modern system of education in Nigeria, because for me, there is really no basis for it. First, many states in the north where Almajiri is a problem, seem to have an integrated Almajiri school system in place already. In many of the states, the school curriculum is designed to take care of the Almajiri at basic education level. Whether this is adhered to is a different issue entirely.
Now, here is the puzzle.
The truth is, the north cannot continue to depend on the Federal Government to solve its regional problem except it does not want to be fair to other parts of the country. As it is, there are few basic schools, if there is any school at all, in the southern part of the country that can boast of the kind of the state-of -the-art edifices the Federal Government had built for the Almajeris in the North.
Almajiri issues is not a national issue. Let those that give birth to surplus children face the music. We cannot be taking drugs for another man’s headache. The FG should not use our resources for Almajiri. Let them face their wahala. Stop four wives, you won’t hear.