BIN ZAKS, a Twitter user, has narrated how an underage Almajiri boy begged him for a cardigan to cope with coldly harmattan weather.
The tweep explained that the boy was not begging for food as his peers normally do, but for a cardigan sweater to protect himself against the cold.
“Give me a cardigan, I’m cold,” Almajiri was said to have pleaded in Hausa.
“Recently met an almajiri, but this one wasn’t begging for food,he said Dan Allah ah taimaka min da rigar sanyi, sanyi nakeji, Dan Allah,” ZAKS tweeted. “It’s unfortunate and sad that some people still support this type Educational system.”
As seen in the pictures attached to the tweet, the little boy, clad in unfit clothes, held firm his empty bowl meant for begging.
Almajiranci is a system of Islamic education practised in northern Nigeria to seek Islamic knowledge. The system encourages parents to leave parental responsibilities to mallams (teachers) operating the schooling system.
READ: UBEC Empowers Northeast Almajiri Teachers With Modern Skills
For decades, there have been efforts by several bodies, especially human rights activists, to thwart and abolish the system in Nigeria. But the government aimlessly opted for remodelling.
In 2012, former President Goodluck Jonathan launched and remodelled Almajiri schools in some northern states, but the boys still roam the streets, begging for alms.
