President Jonathan And The Fraud Called Almajiri Education ~ By Usama Dandare The word Almajiri is derived from the Arabic “Almuhajirun”, meaning an emigrant. It usually refers to a person who migrates from the luxury of his home to other places or to a popular teacher in the quest for Islamic knowledge. It is hinged on the Islamic concept of migration which is widely practiced especially when acquisition of knowledge at home is either inconvenient or insufficient. During the pre-colonial era, the Almajiri education system, originally called the Tsangaya was established under the Kanem-Borno Empire, one of the oldest ruling empires in the world extending from the frontiers of northern Nigeria across the Chadian region up to the borders of Libya. It was established as an organized and comprehensive system of education for learning Islamic principles, values, jurisprudence and theology. It was a replica of Islamic learning centres in many Muslim countries such as the madrasah in Pakistan, Malaysia, Egypt and Indonesia etc. The system was funded by the state treasury and the state zakka funds, and was under the control of the emirs of the traditional government system that existed before the coming of the British. Since Islam encourages charity to the needy and to a student of learning, the community as well readily supported these Almajiri most of whom came from faraway places to enroll in the Tsangaya schools. In return, the Almajiris offered services such as laundry, cobbling, gardening, weaving, sewing e.t.c as charity to the community that contributed to their well being; hence they gave the society what the society gave to them. The students were at liberty to acquire a vocational and occupational skill in between their Islamic lessons and so were involved in farming, fishing, well construction, masonry, production, trade, tailoring, small businesses etc. Many of them were the farmers of the northern Nigerian cotton and groundnut pyramids. They formed the majority of the traders in the commercial city of Kano. They were the leather tanners and leather shoe and bags makers in the old Sokoto Empire. The cap weavers and Taylors in Zaria city were said to be Almajiris. Thus they formed the largest percentage of the community workforce and made significant contribution to the economy before the introduction of white collar jobs. After colonialization, they were recruited by the British as columbite and tin miners in Jos city which was then under Bauchi before the creation of plateau state. The system also produced the judges, clerks, teachers etc. and layed an elaborate system of administration in Northern Nigeria. They provided the colonial administration with the needed staff. The first set of colonial staff in Northern Nigeria was provided by the Almajiri schools and this went on for years. In fact, the Almajiri system was a civilizing agent second to none. Before they were gradually replaced, phased out & indeed abandoned. With the coming of British colonial masters, the British invaded northern region and killed most of the Emirs and disposed some. The Emirs lost control of their territories and accepted their new roles, as mere traditional rulers. They also lost fundamental control of the Almajiri system. The British deliberately abolished state funding in respect to the system arguing that, they were religious schools. With loss of support from the government, its immediate community and the helpless Emirs, the Almajiri system collapsed like a pile of cards. Karatun Boko, western education was introduced and funded instead. The pupils now turned, Almajirai together with their Mallams, having no financial support resorted to begging and other menial jobs for survival. This is certainly the genesis of the predicament of the Almajiri system today. The system as it is presently being practiced has outlived its usefulness, lazy parents mostly from rural settlements who thought they cant afford to raise a child gave out their siblings to some half-baked semi-illiterate Quranic Mallams who use their wards as a means of living and subjects the children to all kinds of labour and exploitations, thus abusing the right of the child and exposing them to various degree of hardship. The young children struggle to cater for themselves and to support their Mallams, forcing them to beg for food and other daily needs, carrying bowls around looking for what to eat and what to take back for mallam and his family, which consumed most of their time rather than engage in learning. Some of these children lost their lives through violence in the streets, some through child stealing, while others are lost through diseases and hunger resulting from lack of good hygiene. At the end, those who were lucky to make it who usually complete the reading of the Holy Quran eventually ended up as traders, drivers, wheelbarrow pushers, touting, thieves and so on without any meaningful life to live as stated during the 21st convocation lecture of Bayero University in 2003 by Prof. Idris A. Abdulqadir. In view of the above, the Federal Government under the leadership of President Gudluck Jonathan in partnership with the affected northern state Governments decided to integrate the Almajiri Islamic School system to provide quality education for the children beggers and to halt the menace of idle children and youths roaming the streets begging all in the name of acquiring education which has been a source of concern for policy makers in Nigeria. In order to achieve this, Jonathan administration set out a policy framework which focuses on two critical levels. The first is to engagement with the rationalisation of the existing traditional system of Islamic education with a view to addressing existing problems and challenges, consolidating achievements and expanding opportunities for growth and development of the system. Secondly, to integrate effectively Islamic disciplines and conventional school subjects, instill values and morals; to provide dual language competency in English and Arabic; and cultivate a culture of educational excellence. The Federal Government also stressed the need for the development of Almajiri Education in Nigeria among other things, is to ensure the institutional development of Islamic School system and the provision of requisite infrastructural and welfare facilities such that it functions as a true Education system, and to provides a viable educational platforms and model Almajiri schools that could steadily and effectively integrate conventional disciplines into Islamic Education System, providing access to basic education for all children of school age throughout the country. Other objectives are to provide quality products that are imbued with the disciplines, character, knowledge and skills to enable them take full advantage of available opportunities and participate effectively and meaningfully in the socio-economic and political life of the nation. The program has since kicked off with the commissioning of the first Almajiri Integrated School in Gagi, Sokoto state on 10 Apr, 2012. With the Almajiri system of education nearly over two years on-board, its imperative to ask if the Almajiri system of education has achieved the desired goals it was targeted to achieve? Has the program reduced the number of school aged children begging or hawking on the streets? Was the Almajiri education able to make an impact on the lives of the poor children and the society at large? How successful was the program in it two years of operation? Contrary to reports on government owned medias, the Almajiri integrated system of education is a total failure and nothing but a fraud, our corrupt leaders in government have created another tunnel to loot our resources in the name of Almajiri education and to further sustain their looting avenue, they came up with concocted lies deceiving Nigerians on the level success recorded by the program. Let me tell you this free of charge, my recent visit to one of the school and the first Almajiri school to be commissioned in Sokoto state was a pitiful one, i met few students playing in a mere empty blocks of classrooms with broken chairs and without teachers. I went round the school and to my surprise, i didnt saw a single typewriter not to mention of computers said to have bought for the schools by the federal government, the students were just as dirty and unorganized as before and what pains me the more was how a school was built without toilets or any facility for such purpose, the students have to defecate in nearby bushes and without any provision for water as they have to fetch water outside the school for their personal use. It appears to me that many of the school children are upto today going out to beg on the streets and later returned back to the school at night. If what i saw was the Almajiri school President Jonathan and his supporters are all bragging about, giving us sleepless nights, then this government is nothing but a disappointment and a total failure. I pity those giving credit to Jonathan led government for initiating this mess called Almajiri system of education, we are in a deep mess. Do you expect me to applaud President Jonathan for constructing a boarding school without toilets? Call me a prophet of doom if you like but this fraud called Almajiri system of education will collapse in a short period as it has already signaled it way down and will perish away just as others before it as long as the system is being run the same way its now, some of the schools were already closed down while others were just built and commissioned but never opened for use, they are just being kept empty. The whole Almajiri system of education lacks basis nor any constitutional backing in the first place, the Nigerian constitution made it clear that all Nigerians are to be treated equally irrespective of tribe, region or religion and i see no reason why some children will be isolated differently from their peer groups just because they were from a poor backgrounds, theyve been denied the right to normal education where children of their ages are being taught. Are these poor Almajiris not Nigerians? Why wont they be admitted into our public schools? Now after graduating from Almajiri school, will the students sit for Almajiri WAEC? Knowing WAEC, NECO & JAMB are yet to devised any syllabus for Almajiri education? What is the end result of an Almajiri graduate? This is just like placing bandage on a deep wound that needs debridement, government wouldve standardize our educational sector and accumulate the Almajiris instead of lavishing taxpayers money on a new system under a totally failed institution. It makes no sense funding another system of education while the nations educational system is in a state of comatose, the deteriorating educational sector in Nigeria which saw about 70% failure in WAEC and a system producing half baked graduates with university/polytechnic lecturers embarking on a year long strike action while some states primary pupils are chilling at home for more than a year will create another new system of education without fixing potholes in the old system. Its an absolute barbarity at this critical stage of educational decay to think about introducing Almajiri system of education. For those seeing it as a development, the Almajiri Integrated Education is entirely different from the normal system of education we are used to in Nigeria, its an integrated Islamic and western education education combined to replace the old system of Almajiri school where only Islamic based oriented knowledge was being taught to the students. Its completely and entirely a new syllabus different from the one taught in our schools and one must be compelled to ask, Is the Almajiri school a primary or secondary school or both? If its only primary, do we have any secondary school that support such syllabus where the students can further their education? Which tertiary institution will the students be admitted into? Viewing from the fact that our tertiary institutions doesnt support such syllabus. Is there any Almajiri diploma or degree program? President Jonathan and his vuvuzelas should understand the fact that Almajirci (begging) isnt a problem preferring solution but the failed system which birthed the menace of Almajirci in the country, the leadership failure to deliver good governance to the electorates and positively touched their lives in various capacities led to what we are witnessing today. Corruption, impunity and leadership recklessness are the main eggs which hatches artificial poverty among the citizenry, resulting to some citizens being unable to cater for the well being and upbringing of their children, thus subjecting them to all kinds of child labour including sending them out far distance to acquire cheap knowledge which in turns led to street begging. I think the best way to address the menace of child begging is good leadership for all irrespective of tribe, region or religion, and when the rural communities began to enjoy dividends of democracy and feel the impact of governance in their lives, nobody will want to send his child out for slavery as long as they can cater for them. Finally, this current regime should re-strategize their efforts and forces toward rebuilding the decayed educational system instead of politicking with the future of innocent Nigerian children and the poor masses. smchange.blogspot/2014/10/president-jonathan-and-fraud-called.html?m=1
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 19:36:51 +0000
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