State governors in the North have begun deporting students of the Almajiri educational system as the region battles growing cases of COVID-19, with Kano taking the lead; expelling 435 Almajiris to Katsina; 524 to Jigawa, while Kaduna deported 40 Almajiris to Kebbi state. Derived from Arabic “Al-Muhajirun,” an Almajiri is a person who leaves his home in search of Islamic knowledge. Although the controversial system has enjoyed a popularity spanning centuries, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a major interruption in its operations.
Governors under the aegis of the Northern Governors’ Forum (NGF) had on Tuesday issued a statement where they “discussed the risk that Almajiri children are exposed to due to the virus. They unanimously decided to ban the Almajiri system and evacuate the children to their parents or states of origin. They vowed never to allow the system to persist any longer because of the social challenges associated with it including the perpetuation of poverty, illiteracy, insecurity and social disorder.
The Katsina State government yesterday received 435 students expelled from Kano State. The Secretary to the Government of Katsina State, Mustapha Inuwa, took custody of the indigenous students at the Katsina-Kano border at the early hours of the day. Kano State Commissioner of Education Muhammad Kiru led his state’s team at the handover. Inuwa said Katsina had also taken similar measures by closing down Islamic and Quranic schools and returning all Almajiri to their parents including those from the Niger Republic. He added that the children would undergo another round of health examination at the NYSC Camp in Katsina before being transported to their various communities across the state. Similarly, Kebbi State received 40 Almajiri students deported by the Kaduna State government.
On Tuesday, Kano State Commissioner of Education Muhammad Sanusi-Kiru had explained that the deportation was to safeguard public health and stem the spread of the pandemic. Stressing that the exercise would be continuous, he said in a statement: “The Almajiri students will be evacuated to Katsina, Kaduna, Jigawa, Yobe, Bauchi, Zamfara, Gombe, Nasarawa States and the Niger Republic.”
He noted: “Against the misconception of some people in the society that the government is planning to stop Qur’anic schools in the state, it was an effort to bring sanity to the system. It is also part of a comprehensive effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus.”
In an interview yesterday with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Sanusi-Kiru said: “As I am talking to you now, we are heading to Jigawa in a convoy with adequate security, together with 524 children, to hand them over to the state government…Where these children were living before the evacuation was worrisome, because there were no adequate conveniences, shelter and other hygienic facilities. At some of the Tsangaya schools, you will find that over 3,000 Almajiri children live in a small apartment without proper care, hygiene and other necessary needs.” No serious government can tolerate such an arrangement, Sanusi-Kiru added.
Recalling Tuesday’s meeting, Kebbi State Governor, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu yesterday confirmed: “Some states have already started implementing this decision by taking back such Almajiri children to their own states of origin. Speaking during an interaction with the State Task Force on COVID-19 at the Kebbi Medical Centre, Kalgo, Bagudu said: “I do believe that all the states in the region will soon commence the repatriation and this is for the common good of the states and Nigeria in general.”
This happened as the Kaduna State Government yesterday confirmed three new positive cases of COVID-19 and the discharge of one patient from the state’s isolation center. Commissioner for Health Dr. Amina Mohammed-Baloni said one of the cases is a 23-year-old male who came into the state from Istanbul via Dubai in March. The second patient is a 51-year-old male who was tested in Samaru, Sabon-Gari LGA, after coming in from Kano. The third patient, a 42-year-old male from Unguwan Geza in Kaduna, had earlier travelled to Kano.
Katsina State also recorded four new cases, bringing the total to 16. It is, however, unclear which local government area the new cases emanated from. As at the last count, Daura Local Government Area (LGA) had eight positive cases including that of the index, who died over two weeks ago. All the positive cases in Daura were reported to have contracted the disease from the index. These include the wife and two children of the deceased. Dutsinma and Katsina LGAs have two cases each. Governor Aminu Masari consequently ordered the lockdown of Daura, Dutsinma, Mani, Jibia, Katsina and Batagarawa.
