10m Almajiris are graduating to terrorists and bombing the North
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
“There is a group of unemployed youths springing up in Kano. They are called the anarchists. They say they have been abandoned by the government and therefore they would be destroying all government installations they come across.
“It is a small group for now, but we need to take action now before the group grows and becomes another serious security threat to the country.”
This warning was given by Idris Bugaje, National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) Executive Secretary.
He said the thought of 10 million Almajiris (illiterate child beggars) in the North and 90 million jobless educated youths across the country – 100 million, about half the population – rattles him.
Bugaje, a professor, expressed sadness that there are 10 million out-of-school children, the majority of them Almajiris in the North. Their parents dump them on the streets to beg bread from Sokoto in the North to Calabar in the South.
The headquarters of Northern Almajiris in the South is rich Lagos, where some scale up to menial gigs – they hew wood, draw water, mend clothes and shoes, scavenge metal scraps from gutters, hawk farm produce, or serve as security guards.
Most Islamist terrorists now bombing the North graduate from the ranks of Almajiris. The oppressed rising up in arms against their oppressors. Things have fallen apart, and the centre can no longer hold – to paraphrase Chinua Achebe.
Besides Bugaje, many others in the Northern elite have spoken over the years about Almajirism, the scourge and shame of the North, without tackling the core problem – the failure of the elite to orientate the children of the talakawas to go to school.
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Buhari and other Northern hypocrites
Northern hypocrites who have expressed concern about the deprivation of the Almajiris without helping to change the system include President Muhammadu Buhari, Kaduna Governor Nasir el-Rufai, and former Kano emir Lamido Sanusi.
Northern oligarchs give their own children Western education, which gives them universal social mobility, but consign the children of the poor to Quoranic schools which offer little practical value and graduate them into street begging.
Almajiris, the children of the poor, are servants of the Northern elite and their children, and the ruling class likes to keep the poor down that way. The oligarchs are only shedding crocodile tears.
Bugaje spoke at the annual general meeting of the Science and Technology Forum (STF) in Kaduna, where he also expressed concern that the majority of the 90 million unemployed youths are graduates.
He blamed the high rate of joblessness on security challenges and urged governments at all levels to ensure the unemployed acquire skills, especially after graduation from university.
He disclosed that from 2023 the NBTE will not accredit “any course without TVET [Technical Vocational Education Training” component.
Taming anarchists before they become monsters
Bugaje equally expressed concern about a group of unemployed youths in Kano called the anarchists who destroy government property, according to The Nation.
He implored the Kano government to check the activities of the group “now that it is small” before it becomes a monster.
Said Bugaje: “As we speak, the unemployment rate is alarming. There are about 90 million unemployed youths in the country and the majority of them are graduates.
“Bangladesh supplies its youths with skills to countries like Saudi Arabia and others as artisans and at the end, they get foreign currency to take home. So why can’t we train our youths on skills acquisition?
“This is why we are mandating our tertiary institutions to ensure they offer training on Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) because we are hoping that by next year, we will not offer accreditation to any course without the institutions offering courses on TVET.
“There is a group of unemployed youths springing up in Kano. They are called the anarchists. They say they have been abandoned by the government and therefore they would be destroying all government installations they come across.
“It is a small group for now, but we need to take action now before the group grows and becomes another serious security threat to the country.”
Bugaje urged Abuja to ensure skill acquisition courses are given priority in tertiary institutions as a solution to high unemployment.
Outgoing STF President Ibrahim Mohammed-Dabo, a professor, said the STF was established 20 years ago by Northern scientists and engineers to promote science and technology for the development of the region.