Nigeria has the highest number of out of school children in the world with over thirteen (13) million as at the most recent estimates. The highest number of these children are in the north-east of Nigeria, currently bedeviled with security challenges posed by Boko Haram terrorists. Many of these children are victims of the Almajiri system a currently unregulated, Islamic scholarship practice of sending children (some as young as six) to other states and nations for Islamic studies.
Generations upon generations, there is no end to the sight of young children of school age roaming the streets in a quest for survival. As an age-old tradition, these kids are popularly called ‘Almajiri’ – children from poor homes usually sent to Islamic boarding schools. Formal education remains a far cry for thousands of these children.
Conflict experts hold that having vulnerable children in cities across a nation that is fighting an ideological war is a terrible risk. For instance, it has been widely reiterated that the reason Boko Haram insurgents has continued to wage war against the Nigerian state is as a result of a robust recruitment source. The almajiri system has created a mass of vulnerable younglings who are susceptible to the antics of conflict promoters upon the promise of material reward or psycho-social brainwashing.
News/SportXtra 