By Musa Ubandawaki, Sokoto

SOKOTO: – In a renewed effort to tackle the rising menace of street begging and the Almajiri phenomenon, the Sokoto Advancement Forum (SAF), a non-governmental and non-profit organization, has convened on Monday a one day stakeholders’ dialogue to chart a sustainable solution to the problem in Sokoto State and across Northern Nigeria.

The event, organized under the leadership of a former Ambassador Professor Ahmad Muhammad Wali, brought together scholars, religious leaders, social advocates, and community stakeholders to deliberate on practical approaches to reforming the Almajiri education system and eradicating child street begging.

Delivering one of the lead papers, Professor Mansur Ibrahim of Usmanu Danfidiyo University SOKOTO (UDUS) emphasized the need to distinguish between the Almajiri system and street begging, noting that the two concepts are fundamentally different. He stressed that the traditional Almajiri model was originally designed to impart Islamic knowledge and discipline, not to expose children to hardship or public humiliation.

Professor Ibrahim explained that the Almajiri system, in its pure form, is about learning and moral training, not begging, and that street begging is a distortion of that noble purpose.

He also commended organizations such as the Sahaba Foundation, which currently shoulders the welfare of over 1,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) and their children, providing them with food, shelter, and education. According to him, such humanitarian models should be integrated into broader government strategies for child welfare and education.

Citing a successful example, Professor Ibrahim mentioned the UK Jarma Academy, where a local philanthropist has provided care and education for over 200 orphans from Borno, Yobe, and Sokoto States, describing it as a model worth emulating.

In his remarks, another participant, former Executive secretary SOKOTO state Arabic and Islamic Education board Dr Umar Altine Altine in his presentation said the People Aulikiti and Karfen Sarki towns in Gudu local government have came up with a community driven reforms on street begging Almajiri system in areas, where local scholars engaged pupils in productive ventures such as shoe-making, petty trading, fetching firewood, and the sale of sachet water, ensuring they acquire both religious and vocational skills.

Speaker after speaker at the forum condemned the increasing number of children roaming the streets in the name of religious education and called for urgent action from both government and religious institutions.

Participants urged the state and federal governments to criminalize the act of transporting underage children from rural communities to urban centers without adequate arrangements for their welfare, education, and shelter.

They further appealed to the Muslim Ummah and community leaders to take collective responsibility by supporting reforms that combine Islamic education with modern learning and skills acquisition.

In his closing remarks, Professor Bashir Wali reaffirmed the commitment of SAF to collaborate with relevant authorities in formulating policies that protect children’s rights and restore dignity to the traditional Qur’anic education system.

He noted that the goal is to reform the Almajiri system, not abandon it, and that the aim should be to produce morally upright, educated, and self-reliant citizens, not street beggars.

The forum ended with a strong consensus that ending street begging among Almajiris requires both community action and institutional reform, driven by compassion, education, and accountability.