The
warder had flanked the ‘STOP’ sign so late that the taxi in a bid to circle a
dangerous U-turn almost crushed by the whiskers, some bowl bearing children. I
can’t recall exactly, the screech of the overstretched tyres and sympathetic observers
which was louder. Just seconds the taxi was brought to a grinding halt, a horde
of children oblivious and undeterred by the averted fatal accident swarmed the
taxi chanting in unison “Allah kiyaye…a
bamu sadaka bissabi lilahi” (Allah forbid…help us with alms in the name of Allah). The driver, obviously
unshaken by the incident as I was, threw a token at the kids while I equally
did same sitting at the back. You can distinguish them by their dirty, worn out
and torn garments; unwashed faces and bodies which have not seen water for
days. They are between 6 and 14 years, they would approach commuters bowl in
hand and offer prayer for alms. They are the wretched of the earth, they beg to
eat because their next meals are uncertain; they live in very deplorable conditions,
so they must beg to survive. I wondered how many had died in hunger, accidents
and used for sacrifice by ritualists. They lack love and care, some are hardly
orphans or homeless but some careless individuals have put them in this condition.
They are the ‘Almajiris’. They are found
in most states in Nigeria under variously distinct nomenclature and according
to local dialect or slang: especially when referring to a miscreant. They are Ocho passenja in the East (tout), Omo Ita (rascal) in the West and Almajiri (beggar) in Northern Nigeria.
Although
these children (the Almajiris) are
found in major cities in Nigeria, they are more common in the Northern part of
Nigeria. Child trafficking in Northern Nigeria is evident via the practice of
begging by children .So many are compelled (by parents, guardians and
relatives) to indulge in the act under the guise of being Almajiri. According to Islamic scholars ‘Almajiri’ is a misrepresentation of the Arabic ‘Almuharireen’ which means immigrants. It
is an ancient tradition where villagers hand over all school age male children
to a teacher (Mallam) who would prepare them for learning the basics of Qur’anic
education often in a distant location. The local population helps them with
available accommodation and surplus or left over food to feed on. Since such
left over can never be sufficient, the Mallam orders the pupils to enter the
neighbourhood to beg for more food. The lesson in begging for food is part of
the training so that they would appreciate how poor people live.
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The Almajiri system of education as
practiced today in Northern Nigeria is a completely bastardized system compared
to the form and conditions under which the system was operating. The rural
urban migration of children today in especially Northern Nigeria is another
unspeakable form of child trafficking subsumed under the canopy of intensive Muslim
religious education –the Almajiri heritage.
The Almajiri system, according many observers, has long outlived the purpose it
was earlier set to accomplish and therefore needs complete overhaul in order to
conform to the exigencies of modern times. Its continuance at this day and age
is of doubtful value. The issue has been a worrisome one to most Northern elite
because the practice has not only been a source of embarrassment to the region
but also blamed for the rise in the number of child beggars in the urban
centres in Nigeria.
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Reasons for the rising incidence of the
Almajiris vary. Investigations I conducted revealed that
poverty plays a unique role. Most children (both the fake and ‘genuine’ Almajiris
on the streets) flock into the cities from villages in search of alms for survival because of the acute and excruciating poverty in the countryside. Another
reason why the Almajiri system thrives is the opportunity it affords
rural youth to acquire Islamic knowledge and in the long-run learn some trade
or skills which brightens their chances of making a living in the cities.
Unfortunately, most children hardly complete the process leading to skill
acquisition because they drop out in the process and end up as street beggars. Similar
to the poverty factor is the view that the cause of the flourishing Almajiri
is because some families in the rural areas deliberately send their
children to metropolitan areas to cater for themselves due to the inability of
such families to bear the burden of providing for their large families. This
factor is undoubtedly appropriate in an attempt to understand the Almajiri phenomenon
in especially Northern Nigeria where polygamy is pervasive. Many men with no meaningful
source of income marry three or four wives, with multiple births from these wives;
they end up with fifteen to twenty children or more which their economic
prowess cannot shoulder. As a corollary, children from such families who suffer
deprivation seek alternative means of survival which may only be found in the
easily accessible ‘trade’ of street begging. Begging among children in Northern
Nigeria can as well be explained on sheer parental failure.
The polygamous
practice ubiquitous in Northern Nigeria has warranted many people to bear
children more than they can cater for. Sending some of these children to other
towns and cities to ‘acquire education’ could be a source of economic relief to
most parents. In some cases, female children are sent on the streets to engage
in petty trade in items like kola nut, groundnut, maize, and assorted condiments
to augment the lean income of their families. Such girl children are exposed to
countless social hazards like sexual abuse, rape, kidnapping etc. Also, the
monstrous problem of corruption in Nigeria has worsened matters. Recent
assessments show that corruption is known to be pervasive in Nigeria (Global
Integrity Report 2008; Human Rights Watch 2008). Lack of transparency and
accountability among public office holders has culminated in the outright embezzlement
of hideous sums of public money meant to improve social infrastructure. The
result is unimaginable wide scale poverty, squalor and deteriorating living
standard of the populace. This has in turn produced all manner of societal ills
inimical to stability in Nigeria including communal conflicts, unemployment,
armed robbery, begging etc “We are really suffering” recounts one of
the kids (in Hausa Language) I interviewed after luring him with a token. “Life is so tough we don’t have enough food
to eat or drink, so we have to go out and beg” complained the young lad, “We lost Suleiman last week, Bala is lying
there sick” (pointing at a boy asleep) “and
Abu, we have not seen him for three weeks now” reported one, “Some of us don’t know our parents”
reported another when I asked about their parents. From experiences I gathered
from these kids, the Almajiri system
toady is deplorable, not only are these children left to fend for themselves at
a tender age, the injustices they face on a daily basis is too horrible. Often times
they are either killed in road accidents or easily succumb to any of the
seriously endemic diseases or epidemics with no one to care for them or give
them medical attention. A lot of the Almajiris
fall victims of ritual killers and are often times killed or maimed. They live
in desperation, hunger, abject poverty and therefore become easy prey to
antisocial vices such as religious, ethnic and political clashes. They neither
attain the full essence of the Qur’anic education nor the practical skills
required to earn a living for themselves. As a result they become a burden and
a menace to society.
It is evident from my analysis that street begging by children is
an ominous reality in most parts in especially Northern Nigeria. To reverse these
trend I am of the opinion that the state governments, in particular the North,
should sincerely be committed to the provision of functional education in the region.
Similarly, they must endorse and domesticate the Child’s Rights Act 2003 signed
into law in Nigeria in September 2003 because the Act has provisions which says
“the child’s best interests shall remain
paramount in all considerations” and that a “child shall be given such protection and care as is necessary for its
[his/her] well being, retaining the right to survival and development….” By
so doing, it will be statutorily binding on the state governments to protect
children and foster their welfare in the region. Also, a synergy should be
created between Qur’anic schools and Universal Basic Education (UBE) currently
implemented in Nigeria. All elementary Islamic schools including Islamiyya and
other Qur’anic schools should not be slain on
the platform of lethargy on the part of both parents and governments in the
area. Doing so will be tantamount to sowing a
seed of impoverishment in the children and
wittingly or unwittingly superimposing poverty on
the younger generation as well as forfeiting human capital
development in the north and by extension, Nigeria.
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