By Omoba Kenneth Aigbegbele

The issue of the Almajiri has remained worrisome to Nigerians; it has been a source of embarrassment since independence. Reports show that they are about 10 million children -Almajiri- roaming the streets of Northern Nigeria.

President Goodluck Jonathan flanked pupils during the official ceremony to commission the Model Almajiri school at Gagi, Sokoto State. Filed Photo

Mr. President sees these children as Nigeria’s responsibility and as is common with politicians lip-service, Jonathan has chosen to be different as he feels sincerely obligated to these less-privileged young Nigerians.

Out of love Jonathan sees education is a vehicle for uplifting the standard of living of these people. Education plays a critical role for the attainment of any meaningful development, so this explains why the Jonathan’s administration sees the Almajiri education as innovative means of youth empowerment.

The Almajiri education is essentially designed by President Jonathan’s administration to integrate the Islamic school carlendar to provide quality education for these target population. In order to achieve these objectives, the administration put in place a policy framework which focuses on two critical levels.

First is the engagement with existing traditional system of Islamic education with a view to addressing the existing lacuna and challenges, consolidating achievement and expanding of opportunities for growth and the development of the system.

Second, the mainstreaming and promotion of the dynamic Almajiri education model, which seeks to integrate effectively Islamic disciplines and conventional school subjects, instill values and moral, provide dual language competency in English and Arabic and cultivate a culture of educational excellence as part of the policy framework to achieve its set purposes.

At the inception of the President Jonathan administration, he insisted that the Almajiri syndrome was responsible for the high level of insecurity and other social menace not only in the North but Nigeria in general.

In fulfilment of his campaign pledge, he approved the construction of 400 Almajiri schools across the 18 Northern states which includes boarding school, Mallam’s Quarters, hostels, libraries, technical workshop, ICT centres and language laboratories, among others, while the present administration is also designing the curriculum, provides textbooks and capacity building for teachers.

The pupils are expected to graduate into normal conventional secondary school and move to acquire tertiary education later on. However, those who may not wish to acquire tertiary education will be able to fend for themselves and become useful to the society based on the vocational skills acquired in the school.

There is no gainsaying, that President Jonathan’s avowed determination to rid the Northern states of Almajiri is unprecedented.

Speaking at one of the inauguration ceremony at Gagi area of Sokoto metropolis then, the President said that “no nation can attain greatness of its youths, whose assets of future development – the youths- are neglected.

The Sultan of Sokoto, who was also present at the auspicious occasion, drove home the point: “The way the Almajiri model school project was conceived and executed by the present administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, provides succour and relief to millions who had been left out of the conventional school system.

This is no doubt love in action for these under-privileged youths.