Kano governor says most almajiri not Nigerians

Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State has said that most almajiri roaming all over the northern parts of Nigeria and other States are not of Nigerian origin.

The governor stated this at the opening of a 3-day retreat organised by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) in Kano, noting that most Quoranic education school pupils popularly called “almajiri” are not Nigerians.

Speaking on the theme: “Enhancing Basic Education m Nigeria towards a Robust Institutional Strenghtening and Effective Stakehokders Engagement”, Kano governor insisted that a lot of Almajiri comes from Niger Republic, Chad and Cameroun.

“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.

“Northern governors are putting more pressure toward having a universal legislation that will limit the migration from one state to another,” he said.

Ganduje stressed that it’s important for the retreat to address some fundamental truths given that Nigeria and the rest of the world was hit with corona virus pandemic.

Ganduje disclosed that free and compulsory primary and secondary school education, as well as the transformation of the ”Almajiri” education system, were some of his major priorities in the education sector.