Islam and human dignity: the plights of Almajiri street children during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria

Abstract

This study examines the plight of Almajiri children during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria within the context of religion, child rights, and human rights. Under the cover of being placed under an Islamic scholar for purposes of learning the Koran, the future of the Almajirai children has been mortgaged by the absence of proper care and denial of their rights. As a check to community spreading of the deadly coronavirus, the Almajiri children, notorious for street begging and largely found in Northern Nigeria were billed to be evacuated to their respective home states. Rather than moving these children to their home states in northern Nigeria, the majority of them were taken to the southern part of the country thus leading to intergroup disharmony and suspicion. Worried by the above, the study thus interrogates the nexus between the forceful removal and infringement of the rights of children, the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic, questionable parenting, and failed governance. The rancor generated from evacuating these children to other parts of Nigeria raises the question of what has gone wrong with parenting and leadership. Sources for writing this paper have been derived from newspapers, journals, and online sources using the descriptive method of analysis.

Keywords:

• Almajirai
• almsgiving
• Islam
• Northern Nigeria
• child rights
• human rights

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

This paper offers an insight into the plights of Almajiri children who ordinarily are supposed to be exposed to basic Islamic teachings and ways of life. Unfortunately, the parents of these children have shown greater irresponsibility in the upbringing of their children. Most unfortunately, many Islamic clerics who are supposed to cater for the needs of these children have converted them as street beggars. The implication is that the future of these children is jeopardized and the government has shown much irresponsibility in curbing this menace. The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated more problems in terms of the plights of these Almajiri children who could not adhere to restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 rules and hence this paper.

1. Introduction

The word “almajiri” is of Arabic origin. It has been traced to the Arabic word “Almuhajir” meaning a seeker of Islamic knowledge. The origin of this development has been linked to the Prophet Muhammadu movement to Medina where those who migrated with him were referred to as Al-Muhajirun(Fowoyo,201367). Al-Mahaajirun by implication is someone who leaves his house in search of Islamic knowledge (Usim et al., 2020:21). In the Nigerian context, the word “Almajiri” refers to individuals who left their villages or town; left their parents, relations, and friends in search of Islamic knowledge and scholarship (Kabiru, 2010). The antiquity of the Almajiri system in Nigeria dates back to the pre-colonial period. The idea behind the Almajiri was designed to build in young minds sound doctrines of Islam as specified in the Holy Quaran(Fowoyo,2013:70). Almajiri implies a traditional way of acquiring and memorizing the Holy Quaran from a guardian(Mallam) to an Almajiri(pupil; Onitada, 2015:10).

Historically, the Almajiri brand of school began in the 11th century as a result of the involvement of the Borno ruler in Quranic literacy and seven hundred years later with the foundation of the Sokoto Caliphate after Uthman Dan Fodio Jihad of 1804, the Almajiri system of education became much stronger (Onitada, 2015:10). The Almajiri schools in Nigeria grew out of its development in Arab city-states of Morocco, Libya, Egypt, and Sudan. At present, Kano metropolitan areas have 5,000 Almajiri schools (Aliyu & AdoUmar, 2019:228). A United Nation Children Emergency Fund(UNICEF) report released in 2014 shows there are 9.5 million Almajiri children in Nigeria making up about 72 percent of the country’s out-of-school children in northern Nigeria, a region that has ironically produced the highest number of leaders in Nigeria(Gaya, 2020:29).

Recently, it has been alleged by a former Nigerian President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo that about 14 million children in Nigeria were being denied access to education(Iboma-Emefu, 2020:6). There is no doubt that the Almajiri children of Northern Nigeria constitutes greatest percentage of these children. An estimate of about 13.2 million Nigerian are outside the school system and out of this figure the North has 6.9 million or 69% (Editorial, 2020:9). A similar report placed the figure to about 7 million (Abdullahi, 2020:214).

It is noteworthy that British colonial administrative policy was instrumental to the bastardization of the Almajiri system. The “capture of Emir Aliyu of Kano and the death of Muhammadu Attahiru of Sokoto, the emirs lost control and accepted their new roles as vassals to the British. They also lost fundamental control of education” (Nwanze Cheta, 2019). Evidently in 1904, the British forcibly appropriated and colonized Northern Nigeria and in the process supervised and coordinated the treasury and banned state funding of Almajiri school system arguing that they were religious schools. In its position, the British introduced and funded “Karatun Boko”, western education and with this loss by the Islamic teachers, the Almajiri system collapsed. The consequence of this collapse was benumbing as this development invalidated the status of the Islamic teachers and made them irrelevant and unqualified for employment. Thrown out of job and without support from the government, the helpless teachers with the Emirs had no capacity to cater for the ever-increasing number of students. Thus, taking care of the Almajiri pupils became severely burdensome for the Islamic teachers and they had no choice but to send the youngsters out to solicit for alms to feed (Gommen & Esomchi, 2017; Qadir I A, 2003). For purposes of emphasis:

The pupils, and their Mallams, having no financial support, resorted to begging for survival. Animosity and antagonism grew, worsened by the belief that the western education was of Christian-European origin and therefore anti-Islamic. Fears grew that children with Western education would eventually lose their Islamic identity (Nwanze Cheta, 2019).

To make matters worse, and to make ends meet, these Mallams began to impose “kudin sati”, a form of weekly fees, on the students, reassuring them that to beg was better than to steal. The students in their turn swam into society with no bearing. This was the genesis of the predicament of the Almajiri system today.

By this, survival and sustenance replaced scholarship and the system progressively collapsed. This was a clear deviation of the Almajiri system as the pupils lost the education orientation in terms of knowing the tenets of Islam in preparation for decent adulthood (Aluaigba, 2009). The progressive deterioration of the system ensured a common practice in northern Nigeria that promote:

a mob of bowl-carrying children wandering the streets in search of one thing or the other. Begging is the most discomforting aspect of the Almajiri system as it brings the pupils out of the supervision of the Mallams and gives them away to negative habits as they come in contact with morally deficient people such as prostitutes, cultists, terrorists etc. (Taiwo, 2013).

From onset, Almajiri schools were built in the outskirts of cities very close to farmlands and were not engaged in any activity in the dry month of the year but today they roam the major urban cities begging for food(Aliyu & AdoUmar, 2019:227).The Almajiri originally designed to inculcate Islamic virtues in the youth have degenerated into unwholesome practice with the children doing menial jobs for survival with unsavory appearances in tattered disease inflicted cloths(Aghedo & Eke, 2020:104).The Almajiri school in its earliest times was capable of producing eminent Islamic scholars and jurists but a critical look on the curriculum employed in teaching in the Almajiri schools exclude subjects such as Mathematics, English, Social Studies and Sciences(Aghedo & Eke, 2020:104).

Besides the aforementioned developments, the Almajiri children are exposed to severe forms of exploitation by the Mallam who ordinarily should protect them. They are expected to do domestic shores and bring back proceeds from their begging to the Mallam in whose custody they have been bestowed as loco Parentis (Zakir et al., 2014:129; Aghedo & Eke, 2020:105). The manner in which the Almajiri children are exposed to various dangers calls for a rethink. Rather than pursue the spiritual fulfillment of being an Almajiri, recent development points to their engagements in social vices like drug addiction (Gaya, 2020:29). It has been established that the negligence of vulnerable children could lead to gangsterism, rape, and other vices (Aghedo & Eke, 2020:114) The absence of proper parenting has been accounted for as one of the factors responsible for the increasing number of Almajiri children. Furthermore, the curiosity to learn the Koran has since left these children. According to Abdulganiy (2020:20):

Most of the Almajirai children grow up to become social misfits. No education. No proper socialization. No value orientation. Painfully, the Arabic and Islamic education they claim to learn, most of them don’t know. You will be praying in the mosque, Almajirai boys would walk past the mosque without praying. Their stomach is their concern.

The aim of this paper is to examine the plight of Almajiri children during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria especially in relation to religion, child, and human rights. The purpose of the paper is to provide policy options for the government on the subject matter. The paper is divided into seven parts. The section after the introduction is an overview of the Almajiri syndrome and COVID-19. The third section is the review of related literature and followed by the section on political leadership and educational reforms in northern Nigeria. The fifth section is on the politics of Almajri evacuation during the Covid-19 lockdown while the sixth part discussed the diversion of Almajiri children to Southern Nigeria and the last section is the conclusion.

The Almajiri Syndrome and the Covid-19 Outbreak

The Almajiri children in Nigeria as we shall be examining in this paper is a time bomb waiting to explode. Until concerted efforts are put in place in terms of educational policy, this dilemma still persists. The purpose upon which it was established has since been defeated as they children now are so depressed, appear in worn-out clothes, and are engaged in all manner of hooliganism(Usim et al., 2020:21). Since western education gradually evolve to be part of cultural renewal (Oladesu, 2020:7), the political leadership in Northern Nigeria should do the needful by looking for various ways of bringing their children and their region to global present realities. The Almajiri syndrome in Nigeria has been heightened by the persistent influx of migrants from neighboring poor African countries like Ghana, Mali, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Benin, and Senegal under the Economic Community of West African States(ECOWAS) protocol on the movement of persons, goods, and services(Onitada, 2015:11; Abdullahi, 2020:216).

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has affected children in Nigeria in so many ways. The Almajiri children were not the only category of children that suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic. The children at the various orphanages and the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps had their own fair share of difficulties associated with the COVID-19 lockdown policy (Taiwo-Obalonye, 2020:14). Although children have a low risk of contracting the virus significant implication of the virus on feeding capabilities of many homes was alarming. Children from 1 to 18 experience mild or low illness from Covid-19(Levinson et al., 2020:2) but the Almajiri evacuation suggests that children in Nigeria were indeed exposed to the deadly coronavirus as figures of infected children soared.

The outbreak of the Covid-19 deadly virus in Nigeria saw to the closure of schools. The implication of this development has really affected learning and the educational sector in multiple ways. New ways of advancing teaching has been introduced through digital online platforms. In spite of these innovations, the children still suffer setbacks in education patterns orchestrated by the covid-19 pandemic. For example, on the issue of online teaching, the following observations has been made by Levinson et al. (2020:2) as follows:

‘Millions of children will remain excluded from learning on the days when they’re assigned to virtual school, owing to digital access challenges, development inappropriateness, or lack of real time adult support. Such plans also fail to solve child care challenges, since children will still be out of school for substantial periods’

The friendly nature of online teaching may not be sufficient enough as the teacher’s physical presence to build relationships with students and manage the classrooms is grossly absent (Levinson et al. (2020:2). With the various innovations brought into the educational sector with the outbreak of the Covid-19, the Almajiri children do not fit in. The government policy of sit at home as adopted by the government was not adhered to as they were seen in the streets of northern Nigeria begging. It was under this circumstance that the governors of the Northern region of Nigeria collectively agreed to evacuate the Almajiri out of the streets back to their respective homes. This was happening at a time the death rate of people in Northern Nigeria were high on the suspicion of Covid-19 related deaths.

2. The review of related literatures

Most existing scholarship on the Almajiri issue focused on curbing the neglect of street children of northern Nigeria. In his paper on “, The Role of e Trash 2 Cash in Curtailing Almajiri Vulnerability” Muhammad (2020) examines the fundamental issue of the vulnerability of the Almajiri with lack of parental care, lack of good and quality education, housing, and other necessities of life such as adequate health facilities. He blamed political leadership for the woes of these children and the paper went further to examine the e Trash 2 Cash Programme as a way of curtailing the hardship of Almajiri children especially in engaging them in refuse disposal in order to earn a living. Also raised was the role of a vocational school situated in Gombe on the plight of Almajiri. This author did not consider the question of child labor and the shortage of resources at one particular vocational school with regards to addressing the plight of the Almajiri.

Zakir et al. (2014) in their paper on The Practice of Almajiri examined the medical and social implications of the Almajiri system on the Sabon Gari section of the northern part of Kaduna State in Nigeria. The study reveals the bad state of health facilities that is totally absent in Tsangaya(the place where Islamic Education is being taught). Also revealed is the state of the toilets, bathrooms, and the psychological exposition of the children who are verbally attacked each time they beg for alms.

Foyowo (2020) in his paper “Transforming the Almajiri Education” advocates for the inclusion of the Almajiri brand of education into the mainstream of the Nigerian National curriculum and formal education. The paper traced the attempt since 2012 during President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration when there was a keen effort to ensure that about 9.5 million Almajiri children abandoned and under-fed would be properly taking care of. Following this development, the Almajiri modern schools were built in order to ensure that a broader outlook of life is inculcated into the children. Second, to enhance the children’s psyche of tolerating other people from other regions of Nigeria. Regrettably, the development that will accompany the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic shows that there is a deliberate effort to ensure that mass education does not take place in the northern region of Nigeria.

Onitada (2015) in his study of the Almajiri system of education in Sokoto points to the critical neglect of the children under the guise of Islamic education. The arrival of the Goodluck Jonathan administration the paper insists was a welcome development in addressing the plight of the Almajiri children. The paper argued that there were remarkable infrastructural development and curriculum restructuring efforts geared towards pursuing a system of modern Almajiri. The paper however points to inadequate funding, proper enlightenment, and socialization as responsible in foot-dragging the revolution of establishing modern Almajiri School.

Aliyu and AdoUmar (2019) focused on “Almajiri Schools in Kano Metropolis” is interested in the various innovations that will improve the Almajiri system of education in Nigeria. Significantly, this paper reveals that the physical planning of situating the Almajiri school in Kano metropolis is not without challenges especially in creating room for inclusiveness. The authors argued that many Almajiri schools are situated in many places with no proper accessibility in terms of the road network. With over 5,000 Almajiri schools in Kano, the author insists that there is a lack of synergy between town planners and the sighting of Almajiri schools in such a way to ensure the spatial dimension of town planning.

Aghedo and Eke (2020) in their study of “Almajiri and Internal Security in Kano” insist that lack of parental care and societal neglect have led to Almajiri children being relevant tools of criminality especially as bandits or terrorists stemming from the ongoing security challenges in parts of northern Nigeria. The Almajiri system in their view has outlived its importance as a result of its mundane curriculum that is not capable of building a 21st-century individual. Second, the Almajiri children are currently semi-modern slaves in the hands of their Mallam guardians who subject them to various spheres of servitude.

This present study significantly will be addressing the outbreak of Covid-19 and its impact on the Almajiri children. Existing scholarship as we have seen did not present the Almajiri issue from a national perspective except its implication on Northern Nigeria. However, the evacuation process orchestrated by the Covid-19 pandemic affected all geopolitical zones of Nigeria who refused those street children of northern Nigeria known as Almajiri should be returned to their homes, and hence this paper.

3. Almajiri and the violation of children’s rights

Political leaders across countries in the world agreed with themselves by way of agreement to protect the rights of children. This agreement yielded the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child which is an important agreement aimed at protecting the rights of children. The Convention on the Rights of the Child explains who children are, all their rights, and the responsibilities of governments to them. Children’s rights are human rights and it deals particularly with minors. Some of these rights include but not limited to the right to good education, health, good life, security, a good standard of living, and many more. The rights cover the child from infancy until the child grows up.

A large chunk of these children is between the ages of 15–19 and a recent study found that about 83.49% of the Almajirai are between the ages of 5–15 out of which 33% are in the category of 5–9(Hhalid, 2001). These rights are connected, they are all equally important and they cannot be taken away from children. In the original sense of the word, Almajiri does not translate to destitution but their migratory disposition with no clear source of survival has drawn their categorization of destitution. Given their ages of tenderness, they should be cared for by either their parents of the government. Thus, the loss of parental upbringing and supervision coupled with the government’s nonchalant route to rulership evidenced in failed governance and broken democratic promises, the rights of these children have been extremely violated without remorse. Desecration of the rights of children has made it convenient to be likened to societal social rejects and belong to the class which suffers from exploitation, pauperization, and alienations (Jimoh, 2008).

This has consigned them to the category of problem population(Spitzer,1975) which is the margin of society and could be likened to the “social junks” and “parasites of the economy”(Jimoh, 2008). Belonging to the socially volatile and social dynamite group in the society, Spitzer (1975, said these two groups constitute the problem population. And it was probably on account of this sorry categorization that Jimoh (2008) put a medallion of lumpenhood on the groups as they remain far below the working class that is so severely exploited and cheated by the bourgeoisie class. They are less than human; they are social scavengers and their social existence is at the margin.

While Cabral (1974) see lumpens which the almajirai approximates to as déclassé, lumpenhood is a bottom-level “class” category whose pattern of survival is without substance and grossly devoid of affection and “proper development”. Domiciled in the streets and searching for livelihood, the children present a colony of abandoned folks in dire need of rescue for their deplorable conditions has gone beyond description. This inhuman condition into which these minors have sunk permits their fitting into different descriptions. It is the helplessness of these minors with no one to protect and provide for them that amplifies the violation of their rights. Without a voice, they are left to their devices and in most cases, they begin to live deviant lifestyles that slowly but predictably become easy targets of negative recruiters to swell the camp of providers of pain and mayhem on individuals and communities.

The Almajiri are not without their likes across Africa. In Congo Kinshasha, there are the Shegues and in Congo Brazaville, the Faseurs hold sway as street children while in Senegal and Egypt, the Talibes are in abundance rattling the streets even as the tsotsis dominate the streets of South Africa. no matter the nomenclature across countries, they all share similar traits and characteristics. They live in the streets and negotiate for spaces for their survival. But the bottom line of their sameness is the neglect and lack of care either from parents or the governments hence the debate on the violation of the rights and privileges of innocent children and minors. Very importantly, Yunusa (1994) described these children thus:

The growth of the pupils is impaired; they grow without affection, self-respect and often suffering from battering. A typical almajiri is deviant, sick, dirty, poor, and homeless untaught, neglected and ill-treated. The pupils grow up unskilled, and form a large number of urban unemployable in Northern Nigeria … roaming the street unmonitored and unsupervised.

4. Almajiri, political leadership and educational reforms in Northern Nigeria

In Nigerian political history, no government has paid attention to the issue of Almajiri than President Goodluck Jonathan (2010–2015). On the 10th of April 2012, he became the first West African leader to take a bold step to address their plight during the opening of Almajiri Modern School in Gasge Sokoto. In his speech captured by Fowoyo (2013:70), Good luck Jonathan maintained that:

This programme will cover the 9.5 million Almajiri population scattered across the Northern states with conventional quality education as envisaged under this administration policy thrust

In yet another development, Jonathan’s administration made effort to integrate for the first time western education with Islamic education. The modern Almajiri School in Jonathan administration era was designed to accommodate subjects like English, Science, Mathematics, Social Studies, Hausa, Computer, Physics and Health Education, Hand writing, Agriculture, Trade, Commerce, Handcraft, Mechanic and Islamic components of Almajiri system such as Qira’atul Qur’an, Tahfeez, Jajweed, Arabic,Islamic Studies, Tauhid, Hadith, Fiqh and Sira(Onitada, 2015:11).

The administration constructed about 125 Almajiri Schools and by November 2013 about 64 schools was commissioned in Adamawa, Borno, Gombe, Bauchi, Yobe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Sokoto, Zamfra, Kebbi, Oyo, Osun, Lagos, Ondo, Ekiti, Edo, Rivers, Kogi, Niger, Katsina,Taraba and Nassarawa States. The remaining school buildings spread across 27 states of the federation was nearing about 80% completion as of 2013(Onitada, 2015:11).The defeat of Good luck Jonathan in the 2015 presidential election gradually led to the defeat of this noble idea.The question is how can a Christian leader be the one spear heading healthy Islamic and Western education whereas under the leadership of a Moslem President the plight of these Almajiri children are worst. It suggests that the patriarchal nature of the elites in northern Nigeria may not be interested in a system of education that will lead to the liberation of the mind. It is obvious that those who refuse reforms in Almajiri education are simply against the type of education that will question gender imbalance, children’s right and invoke possibly a genuine democratic value re-orientation. Otherwise there is no way to explain the total neglect of close to 10 million children from Northern Nigeria whose future is currently bleak. Leaders of thought from Northern Nigeria like Paul Unongo has lamented about the homelessness of the Almajiri system and called for the adjustment of the system(Unogo, 2020:25). Philip Njamanze advocated for the quarantine of all the Almajiri children in the country as a way of checkmating the spread of the virus as well as dictating those from neighbouring African countries(There’s sabotage in COVID-19,2020:9).

Of a truth, Islam abhors the Almajiri syndrome especially at the height of growing insecurity and moral degeneration. However, the campaign should be to convince Islamic scholars from Islamic point of view on the gains of this reality (Abdullahi, 2020:14).The former Emir of Kano and former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) in recent times has been a leading voice of abolishing the Almajiri system. He had quoted severally from Hadith in the book of Muwatta saying: ‘La Tas Alan Ahdan Shai’an,Wa ln Kunta Labudda Sa’ilan Fas’al Indani Suldani(Don’t go and beg anyone for anything and if it is necessary you must ask, then go and ask those in power).The Emir wondered why a father in Dutse should send his child to Kano without adequate provision. He went further to ask if there were no Islamic teachers in Dutse. His view is that parents are shying away from their responsibilities and that asking someone not Allah for anything is prohibited in Islam (Mohammed, 2020:16).

The Almajiri system has been described as anti-development because rather than teach young children vocational skills it makes them easy recruits of gangs and terrorist groups (Dismantling the Almajiri System, 2020:9). In a world driven by science and technology thus noted Obioha (2020:12) the Almajiri system is moribund as it does not encourage competition in work, trade and politics.

5. Politics of Almajiri evacuation during COVID-19 lockdown

The window provided by the Covid-19 pandemic was utilized by the governors of Northern Nigeria to revisit the Almajiri syndrome. A report has it that the oddities of the Almajiri system was exposed (editorial, 2020:9).The move to repatriate the Almajiri children to their home states elicited a lot of agitations especially from the members of the House of Representatives who resisted the move as against the rights of children (Ewuzie, 2020:20).Unfortunately, some of these legislators came from Kano state which has the highest number of Almajiri. The allocation of funds to the National Assembly from the federation account for constituency projects if channeled to the plights of the Almajiri over the years would have solved the problems of this vulnerable group (Ariole, 2020:12). A group known as Concerned Almajirai insisted that it was wrong under Islam to leave the place of plague to avoid spread (Olanrewaju, 2020:8)

In March 2020, Kano fired the first shot of evacuation involving about 1500 Almajiri out of kano to their respective states of origin. Later on 26 March 2020, the Kaduna state government followed suit by evacuating 3000 Almajiri children to their respective state of origin(Ebije, 2020:19).This development served as a wakeup call for other states of the Northern region of Nigeria. In reaction, Kebbi State introduced a programme to involve 504 Koran schools. In Adamawa, thus noted Adeyami et al. (2020:5) plans were put in place to ensure that a total number of 51,205 out of school children are returned back to school with plans to ensure that by 2022 that a total of 291,239 out of school children would have been enrolled back under the Better Education Service Delivery for All(BESDA).This was after the state received 61 Almajiri children on 22 May 2020 and later in few days after received another 83 all from Kano State.(Kebbi Receives 83 Almajirai,202029).

The Governor of Kano state Mr.Ganduje reveals that Kano state had the largest number of Almajirai coming from all parts of northern Nigeria and thus was the resolve of the leadership of the state to return them to their places of origin(Mgboh, 2020:29).Still on evacuation, Katsina received about 419 Almajiri children from Kano and settled them in the state National Youth Service Corps orientation camp in Katsina(Okezie, 2020n28).Similarly, Jigawa received 76 Almajiri children repatriated to their state but sent back 7 who were not from the state(Abubakar, 2020:28). The movement of Almajiri children up and down had implications for the spread and exposure to the coronavirus pandemic. Available evidence regrettably points to the fact that about 50 Almajiri children sent away from Kano state accounted for 59 active covid-19 cases in Kaduna state (Alabelewe & Rufai, 2020:6). The state of Plateau during this period returned 601 Almajirai to their states of origin while they received 119 Almajirai children of Plateau origin from the following number of ratios from states such as Kaduna 38, Bauchi 419, Kano 92, Jigawa 47 and Gombe 5 with one testing positive to Covid-19 virus (Bere, 2020:6).

In his comprehensive study on the nexus between the Almajiri and the curtailing of the spread of Covid-19 virus, Maijama’a (2020:18) had this to say:

Recently, due to the corona virus pandemic the governors of the 19 Northern states repatriated tens of thousands Almajiri to their home towns with a view of containing the spread of the disease. As the children arrived at their homes, some of them were quarantined and tested. These results caused widespread consternation: of the 169 tested in Kaduna as of that time, 65 were positive; in Jigawa state 91 of the 168 Almajiris tested positive. In Gombe, eight of the 48 children tested had covid-19.In Bauchi, the number was seven out of 38.These lingering tribulations be falling the Almajiri system in the North has grossly raised concern among northern Governors

The Christian Association of Nigeria(CAN) raised alarm alleging that most of the Almajiri sent to Sokoto and Jigawa from Kano were positive to the coronavirus. Those sent to Kaduna according to them were carriers of the deadly virus while over a trailer load of the Alamajiris were sent to camp in Kogi(Onwuchekwa, 2020:8). The situation of the Almajiri was worsened by the fact that even the so much purported distribution of Social Investment Programme(SIP) funds and most directly the Conditional Cash Transfer(CCT) to households excluded the Almajiri children since they could not be traced to any household(Abdulraham, 2020:16).

6. The diversion of Almajiri children to Southern Nigeria

Within a short time frame when the governors of northern Nigeria implemented the evacuation of the Almajiri off the street to their respective homes, the children were diverted to southern Nigeria comprising of south-east, south-west and south- south geo-political zones. The plight of the Almajiri children under this circumstance was captured as follows:

Dropping minors in strange lands where they have no food, shelter, clothing would expose them to all sorts of challenges, including vulnerability to the fast spreading COVID-19 or constitute spread agents themselves. The situation spells doom for our security agencies. Government would have to immediately stop the movement of these Almajirai, strengthen our capacity at community policing and make efforts at enhancing manpower level with the agencies (Nwosu, 2020:8).

The inability of the political class to come out with policies and pursue it to a logical end about the Almajiri plight is long overdue. It is the easiest way of postponing the evil day. Like Olafioye et al. (2020:71) pointed out:

The painful thing is that the North allowed the Almajiri system to get to this point. The practice is old and is injustice to the rights of children. That they are now rejected by their own in the North is something that is painful.They are fleeing the North because they have been rejected by their own-some of the people they worked and won election for

In May 2020, the Federal Road Safety Corps(FRSC) intercepted 13 Almajiri children who were moved from northern Nigeria to Akure in Southwestern Nigeria(Gbolagunfe, 2020:29). There was a similar report of about 20 Almajiri children intercepted in Ondo and eight out of the number sneaked away (Food Govt.Playing Double Standard., 2020:6).On 7 May 2020 around Bekwarra-Benue Federal Highway at Garkim a truck carrying many Almajiri children were intercepted by security agents(Okoro, 2020:27). This triggered uproar from stake holders from neighbouring states who felt that the presence of Almajiri children in their state will jeopardize their fight against the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, on 20 May 2020, the Governor of Ebonyi State in a live broadcast was vocal to the point that he announced: ‘Ebonyi will not allow Almajirai,they should go to their state of origin”(Agwu, 2020:27). In Rivers State, the Governor Nyesom Wike deported the Almajiri brought into the state back to their respective states (Akubuiro, 2020:29).

The movement of the Almajiri children to other states other than their own raised serious ethnic and religious tensions. For example, the Igbo National Council as a socio-cultural group alleged that the Almajiri might be terrorist in disguise and in the middle of May 2020, they issued an ultimatum for the Almajiri to vacate the southeastern region (Uzoaru, 2020:26). Furthermore, another socio-cultural group Okpara Igbo Forum(OIF) warned people in southeastern region of Nigeria to be vigilant as a result of the influx of Almajirai children to the region(”OIF Condemns.2020:20).The government proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra(IPOB) alleged that the Arewa North dominated by the Fulani have been secretly sending out their coronavirus patient in the name of sending out their Almajiri to Enugu state. The group vowed to resist such move(Uzoaru, 2020:27; Kalu, 2020:30).

A Second Republic politician from Kano state in Nigeria in an interview noted that while governors has right to deny suspicious persons entry into their respective states, the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guarantees the freedom of movement of every Nigerian(Salaudeen, 2020:22).A critical analysis of the failure of leadership with regards to Almajiri children in northern Nigeria shows that it is deliberate. The Almajiri are willing tools of politicians that they vote during election even when they are under age and in most times used in hijacking ballot boxes. The northern oligarchy it appears enjoy their level of destitution and even when important personalities like the deposed Emir of Kano Sanusi raised the issue he became the enemy of the state and even the failure of Goodluck Jonathan to secure his second bid election was also blamed on his willingness to reform the Almajiri system(Ugwu, 2020:18).With the rising polarization of the country along ethnic and religious lines because of the Almajiri system, the need to address the quagmire have now arise(Ojukwu, 2020:9).

7. Conclusion

This study has shown that children’s rights are human rights. The Coronavirus pandemic has revealed once more that parenting in Nigeria has gone on holiday. Regrettably, the Almajiri children have been exposed to begging amidst other harsh economic realities thus defeating the original essence of the Almajiri system. There is the urgent need for government to protect the Almajiri children of Northern Nigeria. As shown in this paper, there is need to introduce a functional school system that will project the Almajiri children into the educational system that will be Internet Computer and Technology (ICT) compliant and 21^st century driven.

There will be no safe haven for Nigerians in the future if the Almajiri question is not properly addressed. The situation that allows young people not to be equipped with requisite technical and intellectual knowledge is one easiest way of inviting a disorderly future. Beyond sentiments, Islamic leaders must insist that the children are trained in modern and scientific- driven education while still maintaining the ways of Allah. This will make room for a future of young people built with sense of dignity, decency, love and understanding.

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author received no direct funding for this research.

Notes on contributors

Uche Uwaezuoke Okonkwo

Uche Uwaezuoke Okonkwo is a Nigerian Social Historian with a research interest in Health History, Music and Popular Cultural Studies, Gender, and Sexual Studies, Church History, Igbo Studies, Slave Studies, Sports History, Alcohol and Commodity marketing. Uche is the author of over 12 edited books and monographs in various fields of history. In addition, he has done a few biographical studies on Olaudah Equiano, Garrick Sokari Braide, Archdeacon Dennis, Pita Nwana, Ras Kimono and currently editing a volume in honour of Bob Marley. His articles in scholarly journals are over 50 as well as over 100 conference papers to his credit. His vast teaching experience spans many Nigerian universities such as Ebonyi State University Abakaliki, Federal University Wukari, Taraba State, and the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.