A former Nigerian senator and human rights activist, Shehu Sani, has reacted to how some Northern governors have decided to evacuate Almajiris from their state given the Coronavirus pandemic in the country.
Sani, who is also the President of the Civil Rights Congress of Nigeria, made his stand on the evacuation known in a post on his Twitter handle.
He noted that evacuation of Almajiri is not the way to go for the northern governors describing the move as a temporary solution.
Shehu Sani Reacts To Evacuation Of Almajiris
The tweet reads, “When you arrest the dirty and beggarly Almajiri from your Beautiful Cities and deport him to his village, away from your tourists, your visitors, your leisure and your sights.
You are only hiding your dirty undies instead of cleaning them.
In another tweet, he said “The Northern Governors strategy for solving the Almajiri problem is that of ‘hiding their dirty clothes instead of cleaning them.’
Earlier, the Kano State Government said it would commence the evacuation of Almajiri pupils to their respective states so they can reunite with their families.
According to a statement signed by the Kano state commissioner for information, Muhammad Garba, the measure to evacuate the children was taken to decongest the streets.
Also, the Kaduna State Government has evacuated 5, 000 Almajiris to their homes, to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The state Commissioner for Human Services and Social Development, Mrs Hafsat Baba had explained that about 5,000 Almajiris were returned to their parents in different states.
Baba said that the evacuation of the Almajiris became necessary considering the unhealthy condition, congestion and filthy environment they were living in.
Almajiri is ideally a system of Islamic education practised in northern Nigeria, where young children leave their homes to live with Islamic scholars and learn about the Islamic religion.
Almajiri derives from an Arabic word, al-Muhajirun meaning a person who leaves his home in search of Islamic knowledge.
However, many people have expressed concerns over how the system has been bastardised.
The system has been blamed for significantly contributing to the over 10 million out of school children in Nigeria.
