Kano State has become a centre of convergence for Almajiris in Northern Nigeria because there is no legislation outlawing street begging, particularly among children, in the name of Qur’anic education, the state governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has stated.
He said recent statistics conducted by the state government showed that majority of the Almajiris in Kano, who roam the streets in the name of Tsangaya or Qur’anic education, were actually not indigenes of the state but children who migrate with their teachers (Malams) or were sent by their parents purportedly to study.
The governor made the remark while receiving the project director of Khlaifa Dankadai Foundation, a local non-governmental organisation in his office, saying the influx of child beggars to the state had formed a stumbling block to the government’s developmental plans.
“At the moment, Kano has the highest number of Almajiris and from the statistics we got, their number is equal to, if not more than those attending formal schools”, the governor stated.
According to Governor Ganduje, he has personally presented a proposal to the Northern States Governors on how to integrate the pupils of Tsangaya and Qur’anic schools into the formal education system, to enhance their intellectual and moral capacity, lamenting that many of them end up begging instead of staying in one environment to learn.
He promised that the state government would partner with Khlaifa Dankadai Foundation, to initiate a far-reaching programme regarding welfare and education of the Almajiris, as well as to generally promote social development in Kano.
The Promoter of the foundation, Mustafa Dankadai told the governor that it focuses on human capacity building of youth and women in addition to a special programme on Almajiri education.
