Almajiranci
[2] Colloquially, the term has expanded to refer to any young person who begs on the streets and does not attend secular school.
[3] Many people in Hausa land give 'Sadaka' to almajirai on daily basis seeking Divine reward and protection.
Almajirai are children, usually from poor rural backgrounds, who leave their hometowns to study Islamic learning with malammai, teachers of the Quran.
[4] Most malams were educated in the alamajiri system themselves, and as they do not receive a salary but depend financially on the alms of the community and the work of the almajirai.
[12]Muslim traders first came to the Nigerian regions of Kanem and Borno in the 9th century, and the religion spread through trade and migration.
[15] Prior to the British arrival in Nigeria, almajiri children stayed at home with their parents and attended tsangayu to learn about the Quran.
[4] The schools were funded by the state treasury, the community, parents, zakah controlled by local emirs, sadaqqah and sometimes the farm output of the students.
[4] Parents started sending their children to the cities to study Islam, and the relationship between the almajiri and the malammai became more salient.
[18] The 1970's oil boom, which decreased the profitability of farming, and the 1986 Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), which slowed economic growth, both increased poverty in Northern Nigeria and exacerbated the challenges of the almajiri system.
[21] Some children come to Nigeria from neighboring countries (Chad Republic, Niger, and Sudan) to attend almajiri schools.
[4] The schools were funded by a $98 million joint operation between the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the Nigerian government.
[25] In 2012, President Goodluck Jonathan referred to the almajiri as “dangerous to national development.”[6][26] He also said that Nigeria should ensure that the almajirai receive a traditional, secular education.
[27] The report emphasized that children could continue to learn the Quran, but that the Universal Basic Education program would prepare almajirai with secular knowledge and skills to "enable them integrate into the Nigerian society and ensure realization of their potentials.
[29] The Northern States Governors' Forum perceived that the COVID-19 pandemic has set the scene for introducing drastic changes into the almajiri school system[30] as it exposes children to the virus due to lack of hygiene, shelter and itinerant life.
[34] Critics say that the almajiri system promotes poverty and neglects, abuses, and exploits young boys, who wear tattered clothing, beg for food on the streets, and work for free.
[18] In one study of almajirai in the Kaduna state, 38% of boys surveyed said they were tired all the time, and 62% reported feeling hungry.
[34] The almajiri system is often attacked for promoting youth delinquency and violence and for providing street gangs and Boko Haram with an ample supply of vulnerable young recruits.
[35][38] Because almajirai beg on the streets and are seen by some as unproductive to society, the children face widespread stigmatization: some consider them to be "the butchers of Nigeria,” "urchins" and "nuisances.
