We Will Do Our Best To Check The Almajiris - Aisha Buhari
Nigeria - Aisha Buhari, wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday, said the challenges posed by the almajiri system in the North should fall among major issues leaders from the region must earnestly addressed.
She spoke at the Joint National Conference of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and Future Assured Initiative on Repositioning the Muslim Family for National Development which took place in Abuja on Wednesday.
According to her, there was no assurance that government could handle all challenges but taking the almajiri children off the streets should be admired.
Her words: “I’m happy that the Ooni of Ife remembered the hope that they had seen in the eyes of our supporters.
“We are scared to leave this place without meeting up with some of the expectations.
“Though we are not going to meet up with all the expectations, at least, we will do our best to see that we have done the best, that is, taking the almajiri off the streets.”
Emir of Kano, Mohammed Sanusi, also dissaproved Almajiri system in the North, saying that no law compelled any Muslim to enter into marriage, have children, only to abandon them to their fate.
His observation came against the backdrop of the menace caused by the Almajiri system of education in the North, where children of school age go cap in hand begging for alms.
He said there was an urgent need for the enactment of laws by state governments to tackle injustices in marriages just as he recommended the arrest of parents that sends out their child as Almajiri to beg for alms.
“Men should learn to take full responsibility for their marriages, especially in economic terms, by marrying only when they can take care of a wife, and having children they can cater for,” he stated.
According to the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, any man that was too poor to take care of his family should go out and beg himself and not send his child.
Sanusi’s view was supported by the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, who urged thought leaders in the North to show pro-activeness in dealing with developmental issues affecting them.
According to him, the region was not short of ideas to spur growth, rather what was lacking was a political will to implement resolutions that arises from such conferences.
His words: “There should be implementation of resolutions reached at this particular programme. We have always said we are not short of recommendations or resolutions at various conferences and fora but what we lack is implementation. We hardly implement what we have agreed to do.
“Mr. President, as the commander in chief, as a retired general and, I know you are not tired, I think you should give matching orders to governors of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to implement decisions reached at this conference and all our conferences, if not you have that big stick on any of the governor who refuse to do a,b,c,d on what you instruct them to do.
“I believe we must pass that stage of having these high level meetings, come out with excellent recommendations on how to solve problems, and then go home and sleep. We must start solving our problems because nobody from any part of the world will come and solve the problem for us.
“No matter how big a governor is, he is not bigger than Nigeria, no matter how big an individual is, whether educated or powerful, he cannot be bigger than Nigeria. We should all know that is Nigeria first, we must solve our problems ourselves because we all know what the problems are.
“Issues of drugs, high rate of divorces amongst our people are serious issues that concern all of us. Why do we have high divorce rate, why do we have so many people not married, these are the issues on top of the agenda that must be looked into and addressed.
“To the First Lady, we want to see one year from now when you will be marking a special year in the world, we want to see how far we can implement some of these programmes you came up with.”
Speaking, President Buhari said Christian and Muslim leaders should be more focused on issues that strengthen the family unit, which has a multiplier effect in building sustainable society, describing it as “custodians of our values and of social ideals’’.
The President noted that the family provides the bedrock for any society, hence deserved more attention in Nigeria.
“In this endeavour, our religious leaders and organisations are most important catalyst. They are the custodians of our values and of our social ideals. It is, therefore, commendable that the Nigerian Supreme Council, in collaboration with the Future Assured Initiative, has risen up to this challenge.
“I, however, wish to call on all our religious leaders and organisations, both Christian and Muslim, to follow suit by redirecting important elements of their preaching and teachings on family issues with a view to broadening the sensitisation of people at the grassroots level,’’ he said.
The President said the government would also put more effort in ensuring economic support and empowering of family members for more stability.
“We have been conscious of the havoc poverty is wreaking on the family. We therefore believe that poverty alleviation is central to safeguarding the integrity of our families.
“Our administration introduced a number of economic empowerment and poverty alleviation schemes. Some of these directly impact on families while others have indirect effect on families through their multiplier effects.”
The Senate President, Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, said the Universal Basic Education should be fully implemented to compel parents to send their children to school, assuring that the National Assembly will work with the executive to ensure compliance.
The Ooni of Ife said nobody would pretend that there was no problem in the country, hence all should face it.
“Enough of us talking and talking. We should all join hands to walk the talk,” he stated.
According to him, the problem of almajiri was not peculiar to a particular section of the country, but was a problem staring each and every one in the face.
“Like the Emir of Kano said, we shouldn’t blame them, we should blame those that brought them to this world, it is very important we look at other ways and means of how to better the lot of their lives.
“In 2010, during the campaign which I was privileged to be part of, we were welcome by a mammoth crowd but at the end of it Mr. President asked us what we saw on their faces, we answered joy, happiness, hope but he said no. He said he saw on their faces (expectation) that immediate solution has come for them.
“So I am not surprised for this initiative of the First Lady talking about finding solution to this our problem and Mr. President’s insistence on being part of it because this has been his passion for a very long time right back to 2010.
“Another thing is that we are all aware of vision 2020 that was launched in the mid 90s. We all felt 2020 was long but ladies and gentlemen, we are now in 2020 and it will soon be over, what have we achieved in the last 20 years we have been talking about the same problem.
“Enough of us talking, deliberating on it, it is now time to talk solutions.”
While proffering solutions to some of the challenges, he said, “I am happy the Senate President is here.
“We need to promulgate laws that will force fathers to be very responsible for their children.
“We can even link it to BVN. Today everything is digitalised, we have to link children to those irresponsible fathers, producing children that are becoming menace to the society.
“Its time they take responsibility for their actions. If you cannot confiscate their assets, confiscate their bank accounts, make life miserable for them, make life unpalatable for them so that they will be very serious about taking issues of birth control seriously.”
According to her, there was no assurance that government could handle all challenges but taking the almajiri children off the streets should be admired.
Her words: “I’m happy that the Ooni of Ife remembered the hope that they had seen in the eyes of our supporters.
“We are scared to leave this place without meeting up with some of the expectations.
“Though we are not going to meet up with all the expectations, at least, we will do our best to see that we have done the best, that is, taking the almajiri off the streets.”
Emir of Kano, Mohammed Sanusi, also dissaproved Almajiri system in the North, saying that no law compelled any Muslim to enter into marriage, have children, only to abandon them to their fate.
His observation came against the backdrop of the menace caused by the Almajiri system of education in the North, where children of school age go cap in hand begging for alms.
He said there was an urgent need for the enactment of laws by state governments to tackle injustices in marriages just as he recommended the arrest of parents that sends out their child as Almajiri to beg for alms.
“Men should learn to take full responsibility for their marriages, especially in economic terms, by marrying only when they can take care of a wife, and having children they can cater for,” he stated.
According to the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, any man that was too poor to take care of his family should go out and beg himself and not send his child.
Sanusi’s view was supported by the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, who urged thought leaders in the North to show pro-activeness in dealing with developmental issues affecting them.
According to him, the region was not short of ideas to spur growth, rather what was lacking was a political will to implement resolutions that arises from such conferences.
His words: “There should be implementation of resolutions reached at this particular programme. We have always said we are not short of recommendations or resolutions at various conferences and fora but what we lack is implementation. We hardly implement what we have agreed to do.
“Mr. President, as the commander in chief, as a retired general and, I know you are not tired, I think you should give matching orders to governors of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to implement decisions reached at this conference and all our conferences, if not you have that big stick on any of the governor who refuse to do a,b,c,d on what you instruct them to do.
“I believe we must pass that stage of having these high level meetings, come out with excellent recommendations on how to solve problems, and then go home and sleep. We must start solving our problems because nobody from any part of the world will come and solve the problem for us.
“No matter how big a governor is, he is not bigger than Nigeria, no matter how big an individual is, whether educated or powerful, he cannot be bigger than Nigeria. We should all know that is Nigeria first, we must solve our problems ourselves because we all know what the problems are.
“Issues of drugs, high rate of divorces amongst our people are serious issues that concern all of us. Why do we have high divorce rate, why do we have so many people not married, these are the issues on top of the agenda that must be looked into and addressed.
“To the First Lady, we want to see one year from now when you will be marking a special year in the world, we want to see how far we can implement some of these programmes you came up with.”
Speaking, President Buhari said Christian and Muslim leaders should be more focused on issues that strengthen the family unit, which has a multiplier effect in building sustainable society, describing it as “custodians of our values and of social ideals’’.
The President noted that the family provides the bedrock for any society, hence deserved more attention in Nigeria.
“In this endeavour, our religious leaders and organisations are most important catalyst. They are the custodians of our values and of our social ideals. It is, therefore, commendable that the Nigerian Supreme Council, in collaboration with the Future Assured Initiative, has risen up to this challenge.
“I, however, wish to call on all our religious leaders and organisations, both Christian and Muslim, to follow suit by redirecting important elements of their preaching and teachings on family issues with a view to broadening the sensitisation of people at the grassroots level,’’ he said.
The President said the government would also put more effort in ensuring economic support and empowering of family members for more stability.
“We have been conscious of the havoc poverty is wreaking on the family. We therefore believe that poverty alleviation is central to safeguarding the integrity of our families.
“Our administration introduced a number of economic empowerment and poverty alleviation schemes. Some of these directly impact on families while others have indirect effect on families through their multiplier effects.”
The Senate President, Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, said the Universal Basic Education should be fully implemented to compel parents to send their children to school, assuring that the National Assembly will work with the executive to ensure compliance.
The Ooni of Ife said nobody would pretend that there was no problem in the country, hence all should face it.
“Enough of us talking and talking. We should all join hands to walk the talk,” he stated.
According to him, the problem of almajiri was not peculiar to a particular section of the country, but was a problem staring each and every one in the face.
“Like the Emir of Kano said, we shouldn’t blame them, we should blame those that brought them to this world, it is very important we look at other ways and means of how to better the lot of their lives.
“In 2010, during the campaign which I was privileged to be part of, we were welcome by a mammoth crowd but at the end of it Mr. President asked us what we saw on their faces, we answered joy, happiness, hope but he said no. He said he saw on their faces (expectation) that immediate solution has come for them.
“So I am not surprised for this initiative of the First Lady talking about finding solution to this our problem and Mr. President’s insistence on being part of it because this has been his passion for a very long time right back to 2010.
“Another thing is that we are all aware of vision 2020 that was launched in the mid 90s. We all felt 2020 was long but ladies and gentlemen, we are now in 2020 and it will soon be over, what have we achieved in the last 20 years we have been talking about the same problem.
“Enough of us talking, deliberating on it, it is now time to talk solutions.”
While proffering solutions to some of the challenges, he said, “I am happy the Senate President is here.
“We need to promulgate laws that will force fathers to be very responsible for their children.
“We can even link it to BVN. Today everything is digitalised, we have to link children to those irresponsible fathers, producing children that are becoming menace to the society.
“Its time they take responsibility for their actions. If you cannot confiscate their assets, confiscate their bank accounts, make life miserable for them, make life unpalatable for them so that they will be very serious about taking issues of birth control seriously.”
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