Northern Nigeria

By Muhammad Dattijo Kabir

Islamiyya system has been proven to be an alternative to the Almajiri system. In the Islamiyya system, it is easier to commit the Qur’an to memory within the shortest period with decency. And it also allows the children to seek other knowledge that will aid them in confronting the present challenges. Almajiri system can only be insisted to be reformed when it is proven that that is the only way to learn the Qur’an. The system poses a lot of danger to the children, such as health challenges, inferiority and, of course, most of them become morally debased in the end.

Reforming this system alternatively means rewarding irresponsible parents for their irresponsibility, creating unsustainable programs which cannot see the light of the day. Instead, the government should ban and criminalise the system and absorb all the already enrolled Almajiri into formal schools. Then any other parent that wants his child to learn the Qur’an by traditional means must first provide shelter, food, and health facilities for the welfare of the child and must ensure that the child goes to school to at least get primary education.

No one is saying karatun allo should be banned. Karatun allo differs in content and operation from the Almajiri system. While the former entails learning Qur’an by the traditional design by all and sundry, the latter entails recruiting young persons to learn Qur’an by traditional means without provision for food, shelter and medical facility for children recruited. The said recruited army of children relies only on begging leftover food and tattered clothes for subsistence.

It requires no second thought to believe that this system of taking young children away from their parents at the ages they need their parents the most should be stopped and criminalised. No child under the age of 12 should be taken away from his parents’ house in whatever guise. There is nothing good in the Almajiri system as practised today. The system has served and outlived its usefulness. It became archaic and, to some extent, barbaric considering the conditions of the children involved in the system.

There are more decent systems which are alternatives to the already abused system. The system indirectly supports irresponsible parents to breed bundles of children they know they cannot cater for. The parents use the system to abdicate their parental responsibility of feeding, clothing, educating and sheltering their children.

Also, the half-baked Malllams use the system as a means of income. The activists are using it to get themselves employment from international NGOs. The nagging question is, can Qur’an be learned through a more decent system than this child molesting system? The answer is yes. Thousands of children have committed the entire Qur’an to memory through the modern Islamiyya system.

Let’s move on; the system is not viable in the present era. The era of dogma has passed. Let every child be supported by his father and take Quranic education before his parents while attending school. Any system that encourages parents to take their children to the street is barbaric and should not be encouraged.

Muhammad Dattijo Kabir. Muhammad is a lawyer, a human rights activist and a public affairs commentator. He lives in Kaduna and can be reached via jibrilmuhammad27@gmail.com.

By Aminu Mohammed

I have observed the raging debate over the Almajiri debacle in the last few days, especially the antagonism against a Kannywood actress Nafisa Abdullahi. The actress voiced out against parents who send their children to urban centres to memorise the Quran under the guise of an Almajiri system.

This issue resonates with me because I was once an “Almajiri”, though in a modernised form of learning. I was a product of Arabic and Islamic education. I am still grateful to my late father for seeing the wisdom in sending me to the College of Islamic Studies Afikpo, a boarding secondary school in Southeastern Nigeria funded by a Saudi Arabia-based International Islamic organisation Rabita Alamul Islam (the Muslim World League). Unlike some of my schoolmates who later studied Islamic studies at Islamic University Madina and Azhar University Cairo, Egypt, I decided to study International Studies at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, against my father’s wish, whose dream was for me to be an Islamic scholar.

I am still at a loss wondering why the actress is being pilloried for telling the truth. If you ask these intellectual lilliputians and Nafisa’s traducers whether they will be comfortable sending their children out to beg on the streets under the guise of Quranic education, they will never say yes.

Before you call me “Karen farautar yahudawa”, an agent of Jews, which our people are fond of calling those who seek societal change and are in tune with modern realities, let me clarify that I did not attend a conventional secondary school. I advocate an integrated education system involving the acquisition of both western and Islamic education. 

I will never advocate against memorising the Quran or acquiring Islamic knowledge because I was a beneficiary of that. At the boarding secondary school in Afikpo, Ebonyi state, we were taught Hadith, Fiqh, Balaga, Tafsir, Tajwid, Saqafa, Sirat, Ulumul Falsaf, Sarf and Nahw, among other subjects, by some Islamic scholars mainly from Pakistan, Egypt and India. I was able to speak Arabic with confidence on completing my secondary education. I even took some Arabic courses as an elective throughout my studies in Zaria. Even here in Germany, I still communicate with my neighbours from the Middle East in Arabic.

I am not worried that this article will generate antagonism in some quarters or be pilloried for triggering anger in some folks. But the truth of the matter is that we cannot continue on this trajectory. This system can no longer continue the way it is; otherwise, we may be heading towards the precipice. 

The word Almajiri is derived from the Arabic word “Almuhajirun”, meaning a person who migrates from his locality to other places in the quest for Islamic knowledge. During the colonial era and a few years after that, the schools were maintained by the state, communities, the parents, ‘Zakkah’, ‘Waqf’ and augmented by the teachers and students through farming.  “Bara”, begging as it is known today, was completely unheard of. 

Mallams and their pupils, in return, provide the community with Islamic education, reading and writing of the Qur’an, in addition, to the development of Ajami, i.e. writing and reading of the Hausa language using Arabic Alphabets.  Based on this system, which is founded upon the teachings of the Qur’an and Hadith, the then Northern Nigeria was broadly educated with a whole way of life, governance, customs, traditional craft, trade and even the mode of dressing.

However, the system was corrupted in the past few decades, with teachers sending the children to beg for food on the streets. Similarly, many irresponsible parents were unwilling to cater to their children. Thus, they send them away to cities to purportedly acquire quranic education.

The current Almajiri system is not only archaic but atavistic. We must tell ourselves the truth that society is drifting. What we are facing today regarding security challenges in the North will be child’s play if our people refuse to change their ways. There is no gainsaying that the future is bleak if what we can boast of is an armada of malnourished and unkempt children who are roaming the streets under the guise of Islamic education. Eventually, the children may not acquire any meaningful skills to become useful members of society. 

I am not a prophet of doom and derive no joy in pessimism. But, I do not see a bright future for a region struggling with a depleted human resource, coupled with millions of underage children clad in tattered clothes with bowls roaming the streets begging for food. I do not foresee any meaningful progress and development in such a society.

I still recall, in 2012, when former President Goodluck Jonathan visited Sokoto to inaugurate the Almajiri Integrated Model School in the Gagi area of the Sokoto metropolis. This boarding school was equipped with modern facilities. As a journalist working with THISDAY Newspaper then, I was there at the commissioning and even interviewed the school’s principal Malam Ubaidullah, a few months after the inauguration. I was excited that there would be a gradual process of taking Almajiris off the streets, as was promised by former Sokoto governor Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko. However, the euphoria was short-lived as governments in the region neglected the programme while the school buildings rotted away.

I wonder why our people antagonise those who want the system to be reformed or outrightly banned in the North. Are we comfortable seeing underage children roaming the streets under such dehumanising conditions? Have we pondered over the looming famine in the Sahel as forecasted by global development organisations, of which Northern Nigeria is part due to climate change worsened by overpopulation? Are we not witnessing the level of insecurity pervading the region because of societal neglect and marginalisation caused by a rapacious elite?. Do we sit down and pray and wait for a miracle to happen while expecting that our problems will go away?

Already we are battling with banditry in the Northwest due to societal neglect of a segment of the society that we use to mock because of their ignorance. And things will even get worse in future unless drastic action is taken to reform the system to enable children to memorise Quran in a friendly atmosphere devoid of hunger and deprivation. The current Almajiri system is a pathway to perdition.

Parents should stop sending children to cities if they are not ready to cater for them. These children should stay in their localities and learn under a school system presided by their Islamic teacher or Malam. The state governments must engage those Quranic teachers and pay them a stipend. I know this is doable because the government has the means to do that.

Unfortunately, much resource has been wasted on frivolities instead of channelling it towards revitalising the Almajiri system. We must wake up from our slumber and direct our energies toward finding a way to tackle problems in our society. Taking action is the key, and I believe that is the only way we can expect to have stability and peace in the polity.

Aminu Mohammed is at the school of Sustainability, Christian- Albrechts- Universität zu Kiel, Schleswig Holstein, Germany. He can be reached via gravity23n@gmail.com or stu219013@mail.uni-kiel.de.

By Uzair Adam Imam 

Another Kano businessman, Umar Sani, aka Magaji, was killed by suspected bandits after collecting ransom from his relatives.

Magaji, who hailed from Fagge LGA in the Kano metropolis, was said to have been kidnapped alongside five others on the highway en route to Buruku.

The bandits who spoke after they collected the ransom confirmed the murder of Magaji to his relatives. 

Our reporter gathered that the bandits called back on Thursday demanding another N20 million from his relatives despite killing the businessman. 

Hussaini Sani, an elder brother of the deceased, confirmed the death of Magaji to journalists. 

He said, “Nine of them were kidnapped along the Kaduna-Birnin Gwari road while on their way to Buruku. They later released three of them but withheld six.

“After some time, negotiation started with the families of the six people, and we later agreed to pay them collectively, only for us to see five of them coming back.

“When we asked them about the whereabouts of our brother, they confirmed to us that he was killed by the abductors. We called them (abductors) using the number they used for the negotiation. They insisted that our brother was still alive and even went ahead to demand another ransom before they would release him.

“When we insisted that we must hear our brother’s voice before paying something again, they opened up to us that he was really killed, saying he was trying to escape. But his released colleagues said he was killed intentionally,” he added.

The Daily Reality reported how bandits killed a 39-year-old businessman, Yahya Hassan Musa, hours after receiving a N6m ransom.

Musa, who hails from Kano, was roamed and kidnapped in a forest around the Mopa area of Kogi State, and the bandits reportedly demanded N10m naira before slashing it to N6m at a later date.

By Aminu Mohammed

In the last few weeks, I have keenly observed discussions about bestie, comrade and recently altercation over interfaith dialogue by our youths on various Social media platforms, particularly Facebook. The debates seem amusing, even though the one on interfaith has generated more altercation between some Islamic scholars and their followers, leading to personal abuse. I am not against people using social media to crack jokes and have fun, but it will show a lack of seriousness when people waste time on meaningless arguments.

I shudder in disbelief, wondering if something is wrong with our youth. I still recall that just a few weeks ago, a Kaduna-bound train was attacked, with many people killed while scores are still in captivity. Yet, we have seemingly forgotten about them. Instead, we dissipate energy on trivial issues. Have we done enough by putting pressure on the government to rescue our brothers and sisters in captivity?

What about using social media to pressure our governments in the region to evacuate Almajiris off the streets and end such child abuse. What about encouraging our brothers to exhibit tolerance towards other sects rather than altercations?

We have many issues at hand, and we can use social media to compel the government to do our bidding. Still, we are more comfortable arguing over trivial matters and abusing those who do not believe in our ideology. Our Islamic scholars seem not to see the urgent need through their sermons to pressure the government to tackle poverty and Almajiri syndrome in the North.

Social media is a gold mine that has provided many opportunities for personal development and skill acquisition for career advancement. But are we utilising the massive opportunities in social media to improve our lives? Are we learning new skills every day to change our narrative and move to the next level? These are questions that we should be asking ourselves.

Many people worldwide are utilising the vast opportunities made available by social media to enhance their lives, acquire new knowledge and boost their income. I still recall a post made by Dr Muhsin Ibrahim on his Facebook page, lamenting how many graduates cannot use basic email to send letters or apply for jobs. One can acquire this knowledge by spending a few hours on YouTube, but our youth will rather spend hours on Facebook attacking one another over frivolities. Frankly, obtaining mere certificates is not enough in the current era. Practical skill is what differentiates between graduate A and graduate B.

Living in Germany in the last few years has exposed me to the notion that a certificate is not enough but practical skills that can help one deliver on the job. I have seen people finish graduate programmes here and struggle to get a job until they learn practical digital skills online.

In the last few months, I have observed that some people got jobs after learning digital skills for six months or more such as web development, app development, digital marking, and programming, among others. This is despite the fact that they completed their degree at the university here – in Germany. The reality is that companies are only interested in knowing if you have the practical skills to deliver on the job and not a simple certificate.

It is pertinent to note that some forward-thinking youths in the Southern part of Nigeria work remotely for international companies due to the acquisition of digital skills. Thanks to their skill, they live in Nigeria and still earn money in foreign currency.

I have decided to devote much time this year to acquiring digital skills for personal development and suggest that to whoever is interested. I will not hesitate to reiterate that our youth in Arewa should embrace digital skills to escape poverty. With your mobile phone, you can learn practical skills free online. There are various mediums to learn digital skills for free such as Google garage, Udacity, Udemy, Coursera, among others. In fact, I am currently learning a digital skill on Coursera.

Please, my brothers and sisters, I believe we can change the narrative. Our region is bedevilled by mass poverty because of the attitude and mindset of our people. An untrained mind will create and recreate poverty irrespective of the available opportunities. So, stop wasting your data on frivolities. Instead, use it judiciously for something meaningful.

Of course, not everyone will be interested in digital skills, but there are other vocational skills you can still learn by watching YouTube videos. For example, people learn how to bake cakes, cook, and do many things by watching videos on YouTube.

Likewise, you can improve your Islamic knowledge by reading good articles and books on various Islamic websites online rather than using social media negatively. The time is now for us to do the right thing and find a way to improve our lives and that of our families. May Almighty Allah accept our supplication in this month of Ramadan.

Aminu Mohammed is at the school of Sustainability, Christian- Albrechts- Universität zu Kiel, Schleswig Holstein, Germany. He can be reached via gravity23n@gmail.com.

By Uzair Adam Imam

Community members of Dutsen Reme, Funtuwa in Katsina State were thrown into mourning as bandits launched a fresh attack leading to the death of two citizens, Buhari Ahmadu and 11-year-old Usman, last night.

A source who exclusively spoke to the Daily Reality disclosed that the bandits roamed the community last night where they arbitrarily gunned down many people.

He said Ahmadu, a member of the Bakori local government council staff, passed on instantly as he was shot in the head, while Usman also died in the wee small hours of today.

The bandits, about 100, were said to have trooped to Dutsen Reme Tuesday around 10:30 pm, where they operated for almost 2 hours without any security intervention.

Our reporter gathered that this was the third time in ten days and during this holy month of Ramadan that these heartless bandits attacked this community, the development that strangled peace in the area.

The residents who spoke to the Daily Reality confirmed the incident wailing on the government to come to their rescue and end the incessant bloodshed in the community.

A resident, Lawal Hamisu, confided in our reporter that insecurity had strangled the peace in their community these days.

He said, “This is just not the first time. The bandits attacked this community three times in ten days. In the first place, they abducted a lactating mother. Until now, no one knows her whereabouts.

“On their second attack, they abducted two women and robbed people of their money, phones and whatnot. And sadly enough, the bandits on a fresh attack last night gunned down two innocent people in our community,” Lawan said.

Another resident, Mujahid Aliyu Maigora, recounted the harrowing tale of the incident saying, “it happened last night around 10:00 pm when I was coming back home from a cinema alongside my cousin. It surprised all of us to have heard gunshots in the air. We could not help but run away to save our dear cheap lives.

“The bandits walked, passed my house and made for one stall. So I think their intention might be to take away the cows there,” he said.

A resident, Amb Funtuwa, lamented that this is the time the government should mitigate banditry in Nigeria. He said, “government should just warrant order so that our security forces will confront these bandits.”

The residents pleaded with the government to do whatever possible to put banditry to an end in Nigeria, let alone the Dutsen Reme community.

All attempts to reach the Katsina State Police Spokesperson for comments proved abortive.

By Uzair Adam Imam

A newly-elected councillor in Katsina State was gunned down as bandits rampaged through Gozaki town of Kafur local government area of the state.

The late councillor, Alhaji Nasiru Magaji, was killed in his residence in the wee hours of Wednesday.

Multiple sources confirmed the incident, saying the bandits had also abducted the two wives of the slain councillor.

A resident, Abdullahi Gozaki, said the bandits, who were about ten stormed the community, killed Magaji and abducted his wives.

However, the wives have reportedly regained freedom without any ransom.

“They attacked in the early hours of today (Wednesday) around 12:30 am, killed the councillor and abducted his two wives but later sent them back home,” he said.

By Khairat Suleiman Jaruma

It took too long for us to realize that one of our biggest problems in northern Nigeria is the Almajiri system, even though we still have a few slowpokes that believe there isn’t anything wrong with the archaic and inhumane system.

We have criticized and blamed the system enough. It’s high time we started doing more action and less talking. But how do we go about it? Can we stop the influx of children into the system? Completely? No, but to a very reasonable extent, yes. But, how do we deal with those in the system already? You might say they should be taken back to their parents, and you are not wrong, but some can’t even remember their parents or where they come from. We also have those who have lost their families and villages due to banditry and terrorism. So, how do you go about it?

Baffah (2022) explained, “The best way to check the Almajiri system is to empower local governments. When you create wealth at the local level, rural to urban migration becomes unattractive, economic equality is everything”. But there is more to do than just this.

It is almost impossible to abolish the Almajiri system, and previous – and even ongoing – efforts to ban it failed woefully. What the Almajiri system needs are sustainable reforms, as opposed to the white elephant reforms that have been made in the past.

NexTier SPD suggests government must adopt the Child Right Act, which is an effort by UNICEF to protect children and ease the prosecution of violators of child rights. It is equally vital that the government criminalizes the movement of Almajiris from one place to another. In addition, begging and child labour should be banned entirely.

Also, the government must work with informal structures such as religious and traditional institutions to support and promote reforms by emphasizing the gain of a reformed Almajiri system to individuals, parents, and the society at large while discouraging incessant childbirths and implementing childbirth control policies.

The importance of religious leaders and traditional stakeholders in sustainable Almajiri reforms can’t be overemphasized. But, it’s also essential that, as individuals, we stop using Almajiris as henchmen for committing heinous crimes or as a source of cheap labour.

Khairat Suleiman Jaruma wrote from Kaduna via khairatsuleh@gmail.com.

By Kabir Fagge Ali

The rate of drug and illicit substances abuse among Nigerian youths is alarming. It is heading towards a national emergency, which should be considered and treated appropriately with the kind of attention it deserves in our today’s modern society.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in the last 24 years, cannabis potency has increased by as much as four times in parts of the world, even as the percentage of adolescents who perceived the drug as harmful fell by as much as 40 per cent.

This is despite the evidence that cannabis use is associated with various health issues and other harms, especially among regular long-term users.

Meanwhile, a worrisome development that should not be treated with levity is that there are 11 million cannabis users in Nigeria, a third of whom seem to be regular users needing drug counselling.

Similarly, the world drug report further noted that “Between 2010 and 2019, the number of people using drugs increased by 22 per cent, owing to global population growth. Based on demographic changes alone, current projections suggest an 11 per cent rise in the number of people who use drugs globally by 2030 – and a marked increase of 40 per cent in Africa due to its rapidly growing and young population. In Nigeria, this would signify that the country will have to grapple with approximately 20 million drug users by 2030, further deepening the public health and public security challenge”.

Recall that the Chairman of the National Drug and Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Buba Marwa, a retired major general, while reeling out some statistics, said Nigeria was not only the highest user of cannabis worldwide but that revelations from kidnapped victims had corroborated the facts that illicit substances were enablers of insecurity currently plaguing the country.

He noted, “it is not difficult to conclude that drugs have been catalysts of terrorism, kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery and various violent conflicts currently troubling the country.

The consequences of drug abuse can never be overemphasized, as it has birthed a lot of problems not only in the family but in the nation and the international community. Medical issues associated with drug abuse include mental disorders, liver cirrhosis, lethargy, irritability, and heart disorders. Studies also reveal that drug addiction contributes largely to social consequences such as internet fraud, gang formation, disruption of normal educational activities, cultism, violence, armed robbery, kidnapping, rape, sexual abuse, and reduced productivity.

Experts asserted that so many factors are responsible for indulging youths in drug and substances abuse worldwide. These include but are not limited to reasons such as; Parental abuse, depression, peer pressure, peer group influence, the proliferation of quacks in the drug trade, early childhood and adult trauma, and environmental circumstances.

Drug and alcohol abuse in Nigeria are serious problems and has mainly contributed to the sorry state of our dear nation. Therefore, we can no longer continue to ignore the implication of such action as it poses a threat to our lives and that of the upcoming generations.

Talking about the way out – the government alone cannot eradicate this social menace. It is a joint task involving every individual, community, family, school, civil society, religious organization, the media, business entities, and traditional leaders to halt the ugly trend.

Most of these drug abusers are jobless individuals roaming about the streets. Thus, the government should step up an effort to provide them with jobs, while others could be empowered with the necessary skills and tools to start their own business to carter for themselves and their family.

Again, the government should remember that stemming the tide of drug abuse is akin to solving the security challenges currently bedevilling the country. The time to take action is long overdue.

Fagge is a Student of Mass Communication at Skyline University Nigeria. He sent this article via faggekabir29@gmail.com.

By Uzair Adam Imam 

The bandits who abducted a pregnant woman in Jalingo, Taraba State, have refused to release her despite being in labour.

The Daily Reality gathered that the bandits kept demanding for ransom to release the woman.

The woman who fell into labour in captivity was said to have visited her parents for maternity leave from Kano.

However, the bandits called the father of the abducted pregnant woman and demanded immediate ransom.

It was gathered that the shooters, who targeted three houses in the area, operated for about forty minutes without any interruption.

DSP Usman Abdullahi, the police spokesperson of Taraba Command, confirmed the abduction of the pregnant woman and six others.

Banditry and kidnapping are the significant security challenges bedevilling the country over the years. 

The menacing security challenge lingers despite the threats and promises by the federal government to mitigate the issue.

By Zakariyya Shu’aib Adam 

About two months ago, I took off from Sokoto to Minna in a commercial vehicle. As usual, I wore a kaftan and sat in the front seat. Although I had my headphones on, we had some words with the driver. He never knew I was “ɗan boko” until I communicated with someone on the phone in English. He said: “Mallam, na zaci kai ma duk mu ne [I thought you were like us – uneducated].” I laughed it off and said, “Ai dole sai a na raba ƙafa [One must diversify].”

The driver told me that he knew many police officers on that way. That is why he is not frequently stopped at checkpoints. However, when we left Kontagora and before we reached Tegina, we were stopped at a checkpoint. When the police came, they greeted and cracked jokes. He asked the driver: “Babu kayanmu a motar nan [Are there our goods in the car]?” The driver said, “Eh, babu kayanku [Ye, there’s none].” I wasn’t interested in their discussion until I saw the police pointing at me, saying, “Wannan ba kayanmu ba ne [Is this not ours]?” The driver said, “A’a, wannan ɗan gari ne [No, he’s not].”

When we were allowed to pass, I asked the driver the meaning of “kaya [goods]” and why the police thought I was their “kaya [goods].” He said the police thought I was nomadic Fulani. A typical Fulani who did not attend school. Whenever a car is stopped at the checkpoint, they single out a Fulani man or woman and ask him or her to alight. They will be charged between 5k to 10k. If they fail to give, they will be framed as kidnappers or their informants. He said if only he had told the police that I was their “kaya”, I would have been made to give that amount of money.

By Allah, if it were someone that informed me of this, I wouldn’t have believed. But Wallahi, it happened to me. I was just saved by Allah, Who made the driver promptly intervene. I just can’t imagine myself refusing to give them that sum of money. I would have been left alone, and the network wasn’t friendly for calls. I would have been framed up as a kidnapper or their informant. Only Allah knows what would have happened to me. My sin was just that I am Fulani.

Indeed, there are criminals among Fulani. There are kidnappers and their informants among them as well. Many of these undesirable elements have committed heinous acts against innocent people and subjected sackless individuals to unnecessary throes and severe distress. They have successfully sacked many villages and murdered countless innocuous souls, thanks to the I-don’t-care attitude of the government. May these barbarous beasts get caught and euthanized. 

This piece is not, in any way, intended to strip them of their crimes. Even though there are bad eggs among them, there are also good ones. There are many responsible and peace-loving individuals among them. Imagine how many innocent Fulanis are stopped on a daily basis and robbed. How many of them are falsely charged as kidnappers without conviction. Some of them are even victims of the kidnapping and cattle rustling. What kind of justice is served?

This type of unjust profiling and more paved the way for these innocent people to join the malignant kidnapping infection. Many of these unethical practices and professional misconducts committed by a few greedy Ekuke parading themselves as police are not only apoptotic to the Nigeria Police Force but are also a threat to the peaceful coexistence of the country. The perpetrators of these heinous acts amongst the police must be investigated and brought to book.

Zakariyya Shu’aib Adam wrote from Sokoto.