News Editor
By David Odama
The Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Almajiri Education and Out-of-School Children, Dr. Muhammad Sani Idris has said that Nigeria has over thirteen million out-of-school children, the second in the world after Pakistan, calling for swift action.
Dr. Idris who spoke at a conference in Lafia, Nasarawa state, informed the gathering that in order to stem the disturbing trend, a policy framework had been developed to groom Almajiri children in the memorisation of the Qur’an to linguistically understand the right contexts in order not to be misled.
He added that a collaboration with Saudi Islamic University and Nigerien University, the students would be admitted to obtain university degrees.
In an address, Chairman of the National Population Commission, Nasir Isa Kwarra, implored stakeholders in the region to come together in providing solutions to address complexities of the out-of-school children.
Kwarra said the conference will produce an up-to-date data on climate change and security for sustainable population management and to harness demographic dividends
Declaring the event open, Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, said until more seriousness is shown by governments and parents in the country, the scourge of out-of-school children and the Almajiri phenomenon will continue to be prevalent.
Governor Sule said seriousness on the part of the stakeholders is critical to ending the disturbing situation, adding that the children’s vulnerability portends great danger to the nation’s security and economic development.
He said at the regional conference in Lafia sponsored by the Nasarawa State Government in collaboration with the National Population Commission that only with government’s enabling commitment in collaboration with parents of the children, the scourge of out-of-school children can be tamed out.
According the the governor, Nasarawa State Government had made several attempts to contain the phenomenon in the state, lamenting the poor readiness of other stakeholders to stem the tide.
He narrated how his government supported the transportation of many Almajiri students to their native states during the COVID-19 Pandemic, stating that after the Pandemic more than the number of the children came back to the state.
He commended the National Population Commission, the National Commission for Almajiri Education and Out-of-School Children and the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria for working towards finding actionable solutions to the issue, assuring them of the North-Central Governors’ Forum’s readiness to support the move to achieve its goals.
Commenting, National President, Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, Bello Lawal, sought for expeditious response through collective action to keep local government areas in the country safe and secure, insisting that the out-of-school children’s vulnerability directly affects the local councils.
On his part, Emir of Lafia and Chairman, Nasarawa State Council of Chiefs, Justice Sidi Bage Rtd, lauded the organisers of the event, reiterating their steadfastness to the commitment of government and other stakeholders to succeed in the task.
The 2-day regional conference drew participants from top security officers, spiritual leaders, academics, eminent traditional rulers, NGOs, politicians, youths, women groups amongst others.
