Chastising the child of necessity: peace journalism and Almajiri repatriation during COVID-19

ABSTRACT

COVID-19 pandemic posed unprecedented challenges to global health and livelihoods. While countries take measures to protect their citizens and reduce hardships on vulnerable populations who seem to suffer most, COVID-19 puts a spotlight on Nigeria’s severe problem of child neglect. We investigate Nigerian newspapers’ adoption of a peace journalism approach to emphasize the underlying causes of child neglect in their reporting of the oppressive deportation of child beggars called Almajirai during COVID-19. A qualitative content analysis of articles obtained from six Nigerian newspaper websites indicates a positive response to peace-oriented journalism, which suggests a comprehensive peace journalism intervention is needed.

KEYWORDS:

• Almajiri repatriation
• bureaucratic corruption
• COVID-19 pandemic
• peace journalism
• structural violence

Notes

1 Cecilia Arregu Olivera, “Peace Journalism Revisited,” in Responsible Journalism in Conflicted Societies: Trust and Public Service Across New and Old Divides, eds. Jake Lynch and Charis Rice (New York: Routledge, 2022), 61–76.

2 Suleyman İrvan, “Peace Journalism as a Normative Theory: Premises and Obstacles,” GMJ: Mediterranean Edition 1, no. 2 (2006): 34–39.

3 Jake Lynch, “Proven Positive Effects of Peace Journalism,” Professor Jake Lynch, August 10, 2022, https://www.professorjakelynch.com/proven-positive-effects-of-peace-journalism/

4 Lungelo Ndhlovu, “The Importance of Peace Journalism and How to Go About it,” International Center for Journalists, August 15, 2022, https://ijnet.org/en/story/importance-peace-journalism-and-how-go-about-it.

5 Olivera, “Peace Journalism Revisited,” 61–76.

6 Leila and Langer, “Peace Journalism on a Shoestring?,” 671–688.

7 Peter O. Mbah, Chikodiri Nwangwu & Sam C. Ugwu, “Contentious Elections, Political Exclusion, and Challenges of National Integration in Nigeria,” Cogent Social Sciences 5, no. 1 (2019): 1–21. See also Seiyefa Ebimboere, “Elite Political Culture—A Link to Political Violence: Evidence from Nigeria,” African Security 10, no. 2 (2017): 103–130.

8 Federal Ministry of Health, “Health Minister: First Case of COVID-19 Confirmed in Nigeria,” February 28, 2020, https://www.health.gov.ng/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=613:health-minister-first-case-of-covid-19-confirmed-in-nigeria

9 WHO, “Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard,” August 1, 2022, https://covid19.who.int/

10 Amzat Jimoh et al., “Coronavirus Outbreak in Nigeria: Burden and Socio-medical Response During the first 100 days,” International Journal of Infectious Diseases 98 (2020): 218–224.

11 Obi-Ani et al., “Covid-19 Pandemic,” 1–16.

12 Jibril Abdulmalik, Olayinka Omigbodun, Omeiza Beida and Babatunde Adedokun, “Psychoactive Substance Use among Children in Informal Religious Schools (Almajiris) in Northern Nigeria,” Mental Health, Religion & Culture 12, no. 6 (2009): 527–542.

13 Osita G. Afoaku, “Islamist Terrorism and State Failure in Northern Nigeria,” Africa Today 63, no. 4 (2017): 21–42.

14 Caroline Duffield, “Nigeria’s Children ‘Robbed of a Future,’” BBC News, September 28, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11427409

15 United Nations, “Convention on the Rights of the Child,” November 20, 1989, https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child

16 Naila Kabeer, “‘Leaving no one Behind’: The Challenge of Intersecting Inequalities,” World Social Science Report 2016 (Paris: UNESCO and the ISSC, 2016): 55–58, http://en.unesco.org/wssr2016

17 Johan Galtung, “Violence, Peace and Peace Research,” Journal of Peace Research 6, no. 3 (1969): 167–191.

18 Johan Galtung, Peace by Peaceful Means (London: SAGE Publications, 1996).

19 Galtung, “Violence, Peace, and Peace Research,” 167–191.

20 Ahen Frederic, “International Mega-Corruption Inc.: The Structural Violence Against Sustainable Development,” Critical Perspectives on International Business (2021): doi: 10.1108/cpoib-04-2018-0035.

21 Diane L. Carter, Ryan J. Thomas and Susan Dente Ross, “You Are Not a Friend: Media Conflict in Times of Peace,” Journalism Studies 12, no. 4 (2011): 456–473.

22 Joice Biazoto, “Peace Journalism Where there is No War,” Conflict & Communication 10, no. 2 (2011): 1–19.

23 Doll E. Meagan, “For People, For Policy: Journalists’ Perceptions of Peace Journalism in East Africa,” The International Journal of Press/Politics, (2022): 1–20, https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612211072775.

24 United Nations, “World Population Prospects 2019: Highlights,” Department of Economic and Social Affairs, July 27, 2020, https://www.un.org/development/desa/publications/world-population-prospects-2019-highlights.html. See also World Bank Group, “Nigeria At-A-Glance,” June 15, 2022, https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/nigeria

25 James C. Murombedzi, “Inequality and Natural Resources in Africa,” World Social Science Report 2016 (Paris: UNESCO and the ISSC, 2016): 59, http://en.unesco.org/wssr2016

26 Murombedzi, “Inequality and Natural Resources,” 60.

27 Chojnacki Sven and Anne Menzel, “State Failure and State Transformation,” in The Oxford Handbook of Transformations of the State, eds. Stephan Leibfried, Evelyne Huber, Matthew Lange, Jonah D. Levy and John D. Stephens (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015), 745–762.

28 Transparency International, “Corruption Perceptions Index 2020,” May 30, 2021, https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2020/index/nga

29 Lange Matthew and Klaus Schlichte, “Ethnicity and State Transformation in the Global South,” in The Oxford Handbook of Transformations of the State, eds. Stephan Leibfried, Evelyne Huber, Matthew Lange, Jonah D. Levy and John D. Stephens (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015), 763–778.

30 Evans B. Peter and Patrick Heller, “Human Development, State Transformation, and the Politics of the Developmental State,” in The Oxford Handbook of Transformations of the State, eds. Stephan Leibfried, Evelyne Huber, Matthew Lange, Jonah D. Levy and John D. Stephens (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015), 691–713.

31 Igiebor God’stime Osariyekemwen, “Political Corruption in Nigeria: Implications for Economic Development in the Fourth Republic,” Journal of Developing Societies 35, no. 4 (2019): 493–513.

32 Transparency International, “Returning Nigeria’s Stolen Millions,” April 20, 2020, https://www.transparency.org/news/feature/returning_nigerians_stolen_millions

33 World Bank, “Poverty & Equity Brief: Sub-Saharan Africa–Nigeria (April 2020),” June 10, 2020, https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/overview

34 National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), “Poverty and Inequality in Nigeria 2019: Executive Summary,” July 5, 2020, https://nigerianstat.gov.ng/elibrary/read/1092

35 NBS, “Poverty and Inequality,” 2020.

36 World Bank, “Poverty & Equity,” 2020.

37 Osariyekemwen, “Political Corruption in Nigeria,” 493–513.

38 UNESCO, “What You Need to Know About the Right to Education,” June 26, 2020, https://en.unesco.org/news/what-you-need-know-about-right-education

39 United Nations, “Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Article 26,” June 26, 2020, https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/

40 UNESCO, “What You Need to Know,” 2020.

41 UNESCO, “New Methodology Shows 258 Million Children, Adolescents and Youth Are Out of School,” UIS Fact Sheet no. 56, September 2019, http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/new-methodology-shows-258-million-children-adolescents-and-youth-are-out-school.pdf

42 UBEC, “What We Provide,” June 29, 2020, https://ubec.gov.ng

43 Akingbola Kunle, “Beyond Leadership: Confronting the Challenges of Corruption in Nigeria,” in Confronting Corruption in Business: Trusted Leadership, Civic Engagement, eds. Alan T. Belasan and Roxana Toma (New York: Routledge, 2016), 52–78.

44 Ware T. Rudolph, The Walking Qur'an: Islamic Education, Embodied Knowledge, and History in West Africa (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2014).

45 Iwuchukwu C. Marinus, Muslim-Christian Dialogue in Postcolonial Northern Nigeria: The Challenges of Inclusive Cultural and Religious Pluralism (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013).

46 L. Hickin, “The Advance of Islam in Nigeria,” The Muslim World 26, no. 4 (1936): 400–403.

47 Alh. Muhammad Salisu Abdullahi, “The Role of “eTrash2Cash” in Curtailing “Almajiri” Vulnerability in Nigeria Through Waste Management Social Micro-Entrepreneurship,” in West African Youth Challenges and Opportunity Pathways: Gender and Cultural Studies in Africa and the Diaspora, ed. M. L. McLean (Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020), 213–231.

48 Hannah Hoechner, “Experiencing Inequality at Close Range: Almajiri Students & Qur’anic Schools in Kano,” in Sects & Social Disorder: Muslim Identities & Conflict in Northern Nigeria, ed. Abdul Raufu Mustapha (Suffolk: James Currey, 2014), 98–125.

49 Yahya Ahmad, “Tsangaya: The Traditional Islamic Education System in Hausaland,” Jurnal Pendidikan Islam 4, no. 1 (2018): 1–14.

50 M.A. Yusha’u, A.K.Tsafe, S.I. Babangida and N. I. Lawal, “Problems and Prospects of Integrated Almajiri Education in Northern Nigeria,” Scientific Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences 2, no. 3 (2013): 125–134.

51 Adediran Sulleiman, Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2015: Forces of Educational Policy Change Since 2000 in Nigeria (UNESCO, 2015).

52 Baba Nasir Mohammed, “Islamic Schools, the Ulama, and the State in the Educational Development of Northern Nigeria,” Bulletin de l’APAD [Online], 33 (2012): 1–15, http://journals.openedition.org/apad/4092

53 Afoaku, “Islamist Terrorism and State Failure,” 21–42.

54 Afoaku, “Islamist Terrorism and State Failure,” 21–42.

55 Oluwatosin Dawodu, “Patterns of Inequality in Nigeria: A Social Psychological Perspective” (presented at World Congress of Sociology, Toronto, July 15-2, 2018).

56 UNICEF, “Education,” April 29, 2021, http://www.unicef.org/nigeria/education

57 UNICEF, “Education,” 2021.

58 Matthew Lange, “State Formation and Transformation in Africa and Asia: The Third Phase of State Expansion,” in The Oxford Handbook of Transformations of the State, eds. Stephan Leibfried, Evelyne Huber, Matthew Lange, Jonah D. Levy and John D. Stephens (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015), 116–130.

59 Sven and Menzel, “State Failure and State Transformation,” 745–762.

60 Marinus, Muslim-Christian Dialogue, 2013.

61 Hannah Hoechner, Quranic Schools in Northern Nigeria: Everyday Experiences of Youth, Faith, and Poverty (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018).

62 Abdullahi, “The Role of eTrash2Cash,” 213–231.

63 Niyi Awofeso, Jan Ritchie and Pieter Degeling, “The Almajiri Heritage and the Threat of Non-State Terrorism in Northern Nigeria: Lessons from Central Asia and Pakistan,” Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 26, no. 4 (2003): 311–325.

64 Afoaku, “Islamist Terrorism and State Failure,” 21–42.

65 Onoyase A., “Effective Methods of Combating Street Begging in Nigeria as Perceived by Panhandlers,” Studies on Home and Community Science 4, no. 2 (2010): 109–114.

66 Abdulmalik et al., “Psychoactive Substance Use among Children,” 527–542.

67 Hoechner, “Experiencing Inequality at Close Range,” 98–125.

68 Hannah Hoechner, Search for Knowledge and Recognition: Traditional Qur’anic Students in Kano, Nigeria (Ibadan: French Institute For Research in Africa, IFRA-Nigeria, 2013).

69 William W. Hansen, “Poverty and “Economic Deprivation Theory”: Street Children, Qur’anic Schools/Almajirai and the Dispossessed as a Source of Recruitment for Boko Haram and other Religious, Political and Criminal Groups in Northern Nigeria,” Perspectives on Terrorism 10, no. 5 (2016): 83–95.

70 Hawa Salam, The Erasure of Arab Political Identity: Colonialism and Violence (New York: Routledge, 2017).

71 Hoechner, Search for Knowledge and Recognition 2013.

72 Hansen, “Poverty and Economic Deprivation Theory,” 83–95.

73 Abdullahi, “The Role of eTrash2Cash,” 213–231.

74 Hannah Hoechner, “Porridge, Piety and Patience: Young Qur’anic Students’ Experiences of Poverty in Kano, Nigeria,” Africa 85, no. 02 (2015): 269–288.

75 Hoechner, Quranic Schools in Northern Nigeria, 2018.

76 Abdulmalik et al., “Psychoactive Substance Use among Children,” 529.

77 Awofeso, Ritchie and Degeling, “The Almajiri Heritage,” 311–325.

78 Afoaku, “Islamist Terrorism and State Failure,” 1–42 See also Omeni Akali, “The Almajiri in Northern Nigeria: Militancy, Perceptions, Challenges, and State Policies”, African Conflict and Peace Building Review 5, no. 2 (2015): 128–142.

79 Hoechner, “Experiencing Inequality at Close Range,” 98–125.

80 BBC News, “Coronavirus in Nigeria: The Child Beggars at the Heart of the Outbreak,” May 16, 2020, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-52617551

81 UNICEF, “Children Adjust to Life Outside Nigeria’s Almajiri System,” September 17, 2020, https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/stories/children-adjust-life-outside-nigerias-almajiri-system.

82 T.Y. Akintunde, S. Chen and Q. Di, “Public Health Implication of Displacement of Almajiri Children in Specific States of Northern Nigeria Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic,” Ethics Med Public Health 14, no. 100544 (2020): 1–3.

83 Olayiwola Rahman Olalekan, “Political Communications: Press and Politics in Nigeria’s Second Republic,” Africa Media Review 5, no. 2 (1991): 31–45.

84 Demarest Leila and Arnim Langer, “Peace Journalism on a Shoestring? Conflict Reporting in Nigeria’s National News Media,” Journalism 22, no. 3 (2021): 671–688.

85 Johan Galtung, “Peace Journalism,” Media Asia 30, no. 3 (2003): 177–180

86 Ivie L. Robert, “Breaking the Spell of War: Peace Journalism’s Democratic Prospect,” Javnost - The Public 16, no. 4 (2009): 5–22.

87 Lee Seow Ting, Crispin C. Maslog and Hun Shik Kim, “Asian Conflicts and the Iraq War: a Comparative Framing Analysis,” International Communictaion Gazette 68, no. 5-6 (2006): 499–518.

88 Joseph Teresa, “Mediating War and Peace: Mass Media and International Conflict,” India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs 70, no. 3 (2014): 225–240.

89 Annabel McGoldrick and Jake Lynch, Peace Journalism: What Is It? How to Do It? (TRANSCEND, 2000).

90 Hussain Shabbir, “Reporting on Terror: Why Are the Voices of Peace Unheard?,” Conflict & Communication 13, no. 2 (2014): 1–10.

91 Gadi Wolfsfeld, Media and the Path to Peace (Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004).

92 Robert Hackett, “Journalism for Peace and Justice: Towards a Comparative Analysis of Media Paradigms,” Studies in Social Justice 4, no. 2 (2010): 179–198.

93 Galtung, “Peace Journalism,” 178.

94 McGoldrick and Lynch, Peace Journalism: What Is It?, 2000.

95 Hyde-Clarke Nathalie, “Political Posturing and the Need for Peace Journalism in South Africa: The Case of Julius Malema,” Communicatio: South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research 37, no. 1 (2011): 41–55.

96 A. M. Auwal and M. Ersoy, “Peace Journalism Strategy for Covering Online Political Discourses in a Multipolar Society and the New Public Sphere,” Information Development 38, no. 1 (2020), 6–-22.

97 Reporters Without Borders (RSF), “Nigeria: Media Landscape,” August 18, 2022, https://rsf.org/en/country/nigeria

98 First principle: refrain from describing the issue as having only two parties involved.

99 Seye Olumide, “COVID-19 has Brought Reality of Restructuring Nigeria, says YWC,” The Guardian, April 30, 2020, https://guardian.ng/news/covid-19-has-brought-reality-of-restructuring-nigeria-says-ywc/

100 UNICEF, “Education: The Challenge,” June 29, 2020, https://www.unicef.org/nigeria/education

101 UNESCO, Education for All Global Monitoring Report: Policy Paper 06 (Paris: UNESCO, 2013).

102 Osariyekemwen, “Political Corruption in Nigeria,” 493–513.

103 Srivastava Prachi, “Privatization and Education For All: Unravelling the Mobilizing Frames,” Development 53, no. 4 (2010): 522–528.

104 Second principle: peace journalists should consciously avoid creating the ‘self’ and the ‘other’ in the situation because this may result in Nigerians seeing the Almajiri as the threat during the pandemic (McGoldrick and Lynch 2000, 30)

105 Utibe Effiong, “What’s Behind Children Being Cast as Witches in Nigeria,” The Conversation, April 15, 2016, https://theconversation.com/whats-behind-children-being-cast-as-witches-in-nigeria-57021

106 Abdullah Abdulganiy, “Almajirai and Home Delivery of Coronavirus,” The Nation, May 4, 2020, https://thenationonlineng.net/almajirai-and-home-delivery-of-coronavirus/

107 Third principle: avoid treating an issue as an isolated event (McGoldrick and Lynch 2000, 30)

108 Ngozika Anthonia Obi-Ani et al., “COVID-19 Pandemic and the Nigerian Primary Healthcare System: The Leadership question,” Cogent Arts & Humanities 8, no. 1 (2021): 1–16

109 Bukola Adebayo, “Africa’s Leaders Forced to Confront Healthcare Systems they Neglected for Years,” CNN, April 10, 2020, https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/10/africa/african-leaders-healthcare-coronavirus-intl/index.html

110 Obi-Ani et al., “COVID-19 Pandemic,” 1–16.

111 Editorial, “An Unending Crisis,” The Nation, August 3, 2022, https://thenationonlineng.net/an-unending-crisis/

112 Percy Dabang and Angela Ukomadu, “In Nigeria, Looters Target Government Warehouses Stocked With COVID-19 Relief,” Reuters, November 20, 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-nigeria-food-idUSKBN27P0VT

113 Niran Adedokun, “COVID-19 and the Almajiri Dilemma,” Punch, May 14, 2020, https://punchng.com/covid-19-and-the-almajiri-dilemma/

114 Adewale Adeoye, “Almajiri: A Festering Wound in the Era of COVID-19,” The Nation, Apr 19, 2020, https://thenationonlineng.net/almajiri-a-festering-wound-in-the-era-of-covid-19/

115 Kayode Komolafe, “The Almajiri Question,” May 13, 2020, https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2020/05/13/the-almajiri-question/

116 UNICEF, “Children Adjust to Life Outside Nigeria’s Almajiri System,” 2020. See also UNICEF Nigeria, “Nigeria: COVID-19 Situation Report,” May 31–June 8, 2020, https://www.unicef.org/media/80086/file/Nigeria-COVID19-SitRep-8-June-2020.pdf

117 Fourth principle: report on the invisible effects of the conflicts like psychological trauma that would make the Almajiri violent in future.

118 Daily Trust, “Editorial: Halt Almajiri Repatriation,” May 10, 2020, https://dailytrust.com/halt-almajiri-repatriation

119 Niran Adedokun, “COVID-19 and the Almajiri Dilemma,” Punch, May 14, 2020, https://punchng.com/covid-19-and-the-almajiri-dilemma/

120 UNICEF, “Children are The Most Important Resource For Future Economic Growth,” March 7, 2018, https://www.unicef.org/serbia/en/press-releases/children-are-most-important-resource-future-economic-growth

121 Fifth principle: avoid using language that dehumanises the Almajiri.

122 Chris Njoku, “COVID-19: IPOB Opposes Repatriation of Almajiris,” The Nation, May 4, 2020, https://thenationonlineng.net/covid-19-ipob-opposes-repatriation-of-almajiris/

123 Sixth principle: Avoid blame games (McGoldrick and Lynch 2000, 30)

124 Seventh principle: avoid the us versus them dichotomy which creates victims and villains (McGoldrick and Lynch 2000, 31)

125 Eighth principle: journalists should call out wrongs on every side (McGoldrick and Lynch 2000, 32)

126 Galtung, “Peace Journalism,” 177–180.

127 Joseph Jibueze, “Activists Fault ‘Illegal’ Return of Almajirai to States,” The Nation, May 8, 2020, https://thenationonlineng.net/activists-fault-illegal-return-of-almajirai-to-states/

128 Charles Kumolu, “Almajirai Interception: ‘North’s Enemies Plot to Humiliate Northerners out of South,’” Vanguard, May 17, 2020, https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/05/almajirai-interception-norths-enemies-plot-to-humiliate-northerners-out-of-south/

129 Ninth principle: journalists should verify all claims (McGoldrick and Lynch 2000, 32)

130 Tenth principle: journalists should refrain from solely getting their information from elite sources like government officials or institutions (McGoldrick and Lynch 2000, 30)

131 Eleventh principle: journalists should show positive actions taken by members of the public (McGoldrick and Lynch 2000, 31)

132 Twelfth principle: journalists should contribute by finding and reporting information about solution to the spread of the virus (McGoldrick and Lynch 2000, 33)

133 Charles Kumolu, “Almajirai Interception,” https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/05/almajirai-interception-norths-enemies-plot-to-humiliate-northerners-out-of-south/

134 Thirteenth principle: journalists should avoid escalating the problem.

135 Ibrahim Shuaibu, “Almajiris, Breeding Ground for COVID-19, Says Ganduje,” May 14, 2020, https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2020/05/14/covid-19-kano-quarantines-2000-almajirai/

136 Santos Fabíola Ortiz dos, “Peace Journalism: A Tool Within Media Development?” Research Reviews for Media Development Practitioners (Dortmund: Forum Media and Development and the MEDAS21, 2021), https://www.medas21.net/resources

137 Dawodu, “Patterns of Inequality in Nigeria,” 2018.

138 Wolfsfeld, Media and the Path to Peace, 2004.