Kaduna State government pledges to keep spending on school feeding to address almajiri problem

GOVERNOR Uba Sani of Kaduna State has pledged to make sure that all the almajiri children within his jurisdiction are provided with qualitative educational opportunities in a bid to combat the growing menace of street urchins.

Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children on the world, with about 10.5m kids who should be in school roaming the streets. These kids, known as almajiris across northern Nigeria, provided cannon fodder for terrorist groups like Boko Haram and are regularly recruited by kidnappers, armed robbers and militant bandits to terrorise their local communities.

In a bid to keep these children in school, the Kaduna State government has initiated a feeding programme involving about 25,000 school pupils spread across the 23 local councils of the state. According to Governor Sani, they have all benefited from the school feeding programme, which cost the government N4bn ($2.66m).

Dr Fauziya Buhari-Ado, the governor's special assistant, stated that the school feeding programme has boosted enrolment and retention as well as stimulated the local economy across the state. Speaking while hosting some under-privileged school pupils as part of the Eid el-Kabir Sallah celebrations in Maraban Gonda in Sabongari Local Area, she said the government decided to fete the pupils who combine both Western and Islamic education as part of an ongoing effort to ensure that children of the less privileged have access to quality education in the state.

In addition, Dr Fauziya also revealed that the event, which witnessed the slaughtering of the sacrificial ram, a special Eid lunch, the cutting of a cake and the distribution of free gifts, provided her the opportunity to interact with the pupils. Alhaji Magaji Datiya, the village head of Filin Malawa, thanked Governor Sani’s administration for the kind gesture.

An official of one of the Islamic schools, Abdulhamid Ahmed, described the school feeding initiative as a welcome development that has created an enabling environment for vulnerable children to have equal opportunities to acquire education. He acknowledged that the school feeding programme has impacted positively in a tremendous way by increasing school enrolment.