WHY IS THE PROBLEM OF DESTITUTION PARTICULARLY PROMINENT IN THE NORTH?
When I read about this encouraging debate in the Vanguard
newspaper I became very interested instantly to contribute to the
debate. This is because the problem of destitution especially in
Northern Nigeria has turned out to be a major social malaise. But
why is the problem of destitution particularly prominent in the
North?
So many factors are responsible for entrenching this problem in
this part of the Country. The most painful aspect of it is that
it is Muslim North that dominates this segment of the society
(destitution) anywhere in the Country. However, we must note
that there are many types of destitution which include the one
cause by poverty (real or perceived), physically handicapped
destitute and self inflicted child destitution of the Almajiri
genre.
All the above types of destitution are prominent in the North
because we seemed to have accepted them as normal ways of life.
But the ones that posed and are still posing greater danger to
the life of this Country are the last two, namely: physically
handicapped and self inflicted child destitution. But what are
the causes of these problems, their threats to societal
wellbeing and the relevant solutions to them?
The number one cause of destitution in the North is lack of
political will on the part of governments at all levels. Where
as in other parts of the Country one would find governments at
various levels honestly encouraging and strenghtening their
educational systems from primary to tertiary levels, ours in the
North are merely paying lip-service to education. The rich and
well placed individuals in the South are rewarded with
chieftancy titles and recognition considering the number of
students one is able to sponsor or the scholarships so
distributed, but we in the North have chosen the complete
opposite of that. It is therefore very important for us to know
that for as long as we choose to leave a larger part of our
population uneducated, so shall we have the persistant problems
of destitution among our people. Education or knowledge is power
and anybody that is not educated is for sure "powerless".
Destitution in the North is also caused by what I termed "elitist
neglect". The rich and the educated among us as I said earlier on are
simply not doing anything or not doing enough to get our children in the
schools and off the streets. They seemed to be contented with sending
their biological children to the best and most expensive schools in
Nigeria and around the world. It looks as if their children are being
prepared to live on this planet alone!
Another major cause of destitution in the North is "parental
neglect or absence of responsible parenthood". Most parents,
especially of low income status, do not care what becomes of
their children. They are usually very proud of having twenty to
thirty children but unconcerned about their feeding, upkeep,
education, health, accommodation and general wellbeing. A clear
preferance for quantity against quality. Some parents, in spite
of the Islamic injunction that stipulates every parent would
account for the upbringing of his/her children, prefer to add a
wife than to send their children to school. They can pretend to
be poor when the issue involve is the children's school fees but
they can raise money to add a wife. I am not trying to denigrate
polygamous family setting here, afterall I came from one. But it
must be stated that it is only good for those who have enough
resources to support such a family.
The perception of destitution as an Islamic phenomenon is
quite wrong. Northern Nigeria is not the only predominantly
muslim society in the world. The obvious question to ask is:"why is destitution, be it handicapped or child destitution,
prevelant in the North?" I think one of the answers is that we
lack courageous leaders in the likes of Late General Hassan
Usman Katsina and Late Sheikh Abubakar M. Gummi to come out
forcefully to speak against it today. Islam in its entirety
abhours begging. Traditions of the Prophet Muhammad SWT are
full of examples of such stance. Self reliance, hard work for
a legitimate earning, contentment are all virtues aimed at
discouraging begging. I do not know where my muslim brothers
and sisters kept the lesson Prophet Muhammad SAW taught an
able bodied man who came to mosque begging and the Prophet was
said to have given him an axe to go and fetch firewood-to earn
a living, instead of him begging.
Any time I watch or listen to debate on the act of
Almajirci and the person of Almajiri, I usually do notice
how most commentators evade outright condemnation of the
system. May Allah SWT reward the Late Sheikh Abubakar Gummi
for promoting the Islamiyya system of education in a most
modernised way-with syllabus, classroom, table and chair,
graduation etc. He also gave us the best example of
parenthood by sending his children to both Islamiyya and
western educational institutions. Today, his children are
spread all over major professions in this Country. From
medicine to pharmacy, accountancy to engineering etc and
all that did not make them less a muslim! Yours sincerely
was never an Almajiri, yet I did complete the whole of the
Qur'an and even memorised some parts at the age of twelve.
My cousins who are today Haafizul Qur'an (memorisers of the
whole Holy Qur'an) were never Almajiri as the concept or
practice is being understood. What I am saying in essence is that, we can learn the Holy Qur'an easily now without subjecting our
selves to this unfortunate level of dehumanisation.
Societal estimation of the handicapped destitutes in the
North is not that that would build confidence and explore
their talents for self reliance and to encourage them to
contribute to national development, but that of pity and
perpetual dependence. That is not what they need from
us.Functional rehabilatation centres where the handicapped
can be educated, learn skills, sports etc are what they
require and it is the commitment of all concerned.
The threats posed by destitution to the North in particular
and Nigeria in general are enormous. It has not only created
educational imbalance between the North and South but has
sustained it. Our ambition in the North during the first
republic "to catch up" with the rest of the Country
educationally is not only dead today, but the gap is ever
widening. This is the surest way to uneven development which
in turn breeds all sorts of instabilty in the country. It is
also denying Nigeria the opportunity to develop its enormous
human capital to the fullest without which there will be no
sustainable and self reliant development in the Country. The
destitutes themselves usually turn out to be liabilities on
the society instead of assets.
We must therefore appeal to governments at all levels, non
governmental organisations, faith-based organisations,
parents, schools, teachers etc to continue to promote the
culture of responsible parenthood and education for all. An
educated society is surely on the pedestal of development,
peace, growth and progress.
In conclusion, any time I see children of school age roaming
around our streets with a begging bowl in a Country where the
number of JAMB applicants going to the University from one
State in the South is more than that of the sixteen States in
the North put together, the question I usually ask myself is"where is our future"? The simple answer to that question is
that we do not have any future, and if by accident we do, it
is certainly a bleak one.
Yours Most Sincerely,
Abdulrahman Mohammed Alfa
No 6, Gidan Nupawa
Mukum Close
Badarawa-Kaduna.
0803 704 1155
abdulrahmanalfa@yahoo.com