Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State, on Monday, said most “Almajiri”, who roam the streets in the northern part of the country are not Nigerians.
“A lot of them are foreigners from Niger Republic, Chad and Cameroun,” Ganduje said this while declaring open, a 3-day retreat organised by the Universal Basic Education Commission in Kano.
The theme of the retreat is”Enhancing Basic Education in Nigeria towards a Robust Institutional Strengthening and Effective Stakeholder Engagement.”
“From the survey we have conducted, most of the “Almajiri” roaming our streets are from Niger, Chad and the northern part of Cameroun.
“Once you improve the quality of ‘Almajiri’ education system, you are inviting other ‘Almajiri’ from other places to come to your state. That is another problem.
“The northern governors are putting more pressure toward having a universal legislation that will limit the migration from one state to another,” he said.
He said that the retreat was “very vital and important, especially at this moment that the country is gradually coming out from the COVID-19 pandemic which has affected education in the country”.
According to Ganduje, the retreat is also important because it is coming at a time education has become the first victim of uncontrolled population, especially when it is not matched with appropriate economic development.
