In my secondary school in Sokoto in those days, we used to have hordes of kids stream into the dining area after every meal to feast on leftovers. They could number more than 30 at any time and looked like they hadnt had a bath in weeks. I do not think any of them could have been more than 13 years in age. Of course they didnt have homes to go to. They were street kids open to extreme abuse. They are called Almajiri and they exist in their thousands in every major northern Nigeria town. They beg to eat from dawn till sunset and in between they take koranic and arabic lessons from a mallam. Ironically these kids have families, YES they have parents and brothers and sisters and cousins etc, yet they are allowed to live in the open. Growing up like this, they are robbed of the love of family and their humanity. They do not know and feel any love. Their family now becomes other dehumanized ALMJIRI and the mallam who teaches them flawed doctrine without supervision from higher up Islamic authorities. Today the ALMAJIRAI forms the bulk of the foot soldiers of the boko haram insurgency. The northern political and religious elite should do some soul searching and not lay the blame elsewhere. While it is the duty of the federal govt to contain and defeat this insurgency, it is the duty of the political and religious class to ensure it never happens again.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Nov 2014 13:58:19 +0000
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