Sule warns of Almajiri ‘explosion’ in North

Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has warned northern leaders on the Almajiri system in the region, urging action before it explodes. Sule, who doubles as Chairman of North Central Governors’ Forum, submitted that it was high time the people took the bull by the horns to resolve lingering problems associated with the system.

He spoke while flagging off the inaugural regional conference on population dynamics, security, climate change, out-of-school children/Almajiri and vulnerable children in Nigeria, organised by the National Population Commission (NPC), and hosted by the Nasarawa State government in Lafia yesterday.

According to the governor, the north could no longer continue to hold the country ransom on the Almajiri problem, since only the region was capable of resolving issues relating to the menace.He warned that the issue was a time bomb, stating that the recent nationwide #EndBad Governance protests would be a child’s play.

The governor announced plans by his administration to set up three special schools in Lafia, Akwanga and Keffi to rehabilitate the Almajiris, calling on his colleagues to ensure that they stop producing more under-privileged.

In his remarks, Chairman of NPC, Nasir Isa Kwarra, said the conference was a critical step towards fulfilling one of the commission’s key responsibilities, revolving around research and dissemination of evidence-based data for policy formulation and development.

Earlier, in a goodwill message, Executive Secretary, National Commission for Almajiri and out-of-school children, Dr Mohammed Sani Idris, said available records revealed that there were 251 million out-of-school children globally.