The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, Thursday condemned the Almajiri system in Northern Nigeria, describing it as embarrassing.
Sultan called for the urgent reform of the system.
He spoke during the graduation of 1,897 Almajiri and 1,087 out-of-school adolescent girls at the Sultan Maccido Institute of Quranic and General Studies in Sokoto.
The Sultan, represented by the Ciroma of Sokoto, Alhaji Aliyu Abubakar, called for collective efforts to address the issue of street begging associated with the system.
The programme, which was organised by the Sokoto State Arabic and Islamic Education Board with support from UNICEF and the Eleva Foundation, was aimed at empowering the Almajiri and out-of-school adolescent girls in the state.
The Sultan said, “I believe we have a greater task, it is not a small thing and we should tackle it collectively.
“I cannot define why someone should come from one local government to move to another place to learn Arabic, don’t we have schools and mallams in that local government.
“We traditional rulers also went to schools; it is distressing, children being sent to Sokoto from some villages and without food. When I visited the Arabic school, I was shocked at their level of malnutrition.
“I advise parents to start sending their children to a nearby school or centre where they can take care of their wards as against the present practice.
“We should remember that on the day of judgment, we will all be asked to account for how we take care of the children given to us on the day of judgment.
“We the traditional rulers are ready to support UNICEF and other partners in order to find solutions to these menace affecting our community.”
Also speaking, the District Head of the Gagi community in the state, Alhaji Sani Umar Jabi, condemned the street-begging form of Almajiri, which he said is un-Islamic.
He said Almajiri in Hausa language can be referred to as students of Arabic language which he said has nothing to do with street begging.
He called on parents and guardians to stop the idea of sending their wards to Islamic teachers with the aim of fending for themselves.
“Our religion didn’t support giving birth to children we cannot take care of; we should stop using the name of our noble religion to do street begging.
“Street begging is not part of our religion and we should stop making use of such, it should be discarded with immediate effect.
“Let me also advise us, the religion does not compulsory us to marry wives we cannot take care of,” he stated.
The state Commissioner for Education, Tukur Alkali, said the state government is working on vocational and entrepreneurship training for more Almajiri and out-of-school adolescent girls.
The commissioner, who was represented by the Executive Secretary, Sokoto State Arabic and Islamic Education Board, Alhaji Ahmad Baba Altini, said the state government has set up a team to monitor the implementation of the programme in the state.
The highlights of the programme were the presentation of certificates to the graduating students and the display of some of their handwork.
