MONDAY DISCOURSE BY DR. ALIYU TILDE
(Discourse
271)
My Words, Your Comments (1)
aliyutilde@yahoo.com
Let us listen to others. Democracy. I have selected
some few illuminating comments from my readers who sent their comments
to my email address, aliyutilde@yahoo.com. The ones I present today
are dealing with the issue of begging and almajiri issues we discussed
earlier. Next week we will select some few on fallen standard of
education, family planning and Buhari.
Many thanks to you
for this very educating write up. I must confess that I WAS among the
many people who saw the Almajiri as a product of the un-educated
North, a ready tool in the hands of greedy and unscrupulous
politicians and religious fundamentalists. I think that this series
on the Almajiri should be published on a wider and larger scale in
order that more people can read and understand what the Almajiri
system is all about.
Having said that, I
would like to state that I think it is wrong for the Almajiri to have
to beg for alms. My view is that it exposes these children to all
manner of ills on the one hand and it sends the very wrong signal to
people who do not have the sort of knowledge I now possess (thanks to
you). Also it runs contrary to the UN Charter on the rights of
children.
While I appreciate
the challenges faced by these children and their scholars, I think
more can and should be done to stop Musa and his colleagues from being
seen as child beggars, abandoned by parents and society and taken to
be the face of Northern Nigeria. Though I'm from the Niger Delta
region, I have a passion for the North and its people. Once again Sir
thanks for the enlightenment, I certainly look forward to the next
article.
Kind regards
Louisa
Honestly sir, I must
commend you for this wonderful treatise on the problem of begging in
Nigeria and in the North in particular. The most surprising aspect I
discovered with this problem is that it is particular to Northern
Nigeria. When I was in Katsina, I noticed that almost all the maids (shara da
wanke-wanke) and maigadi are from Niger Republic. Secondly
in Maiduguri almost all the handcraft artisans are from Chad republic,
including tailors, bricklayers, masons, carpenters, plumbers. Also
those who took to menial jobs and handcrafts to survive are those from
other tribes especially Kilba, Marghi, Gwoza, etc.
What I am driving at
is that those tribes with a glorious monopolistic and colonial past
are the ones which are more prone to beg. They have lost their
position of being landlords over the other tribes they conquered and
subjugated. As such they find it too demeaning to do any menial jobs
to survive; rather, they resort to begging without any feeling of
shame or remorse. Still they look down on those that give them alms if
they happen to be from the conquered tribes.
In Katsina, I ask my
house maid where she was from. She told me she is from Tchibiri (a
village outside Maradi, Niger republic). Another instance was that of
Mairuwa, he came to Nigeria simply to "chi rani". On
further discussion with him, he claimed that it is the ingilishi
Hausas (meaning Nigerian Hausas) that are lazy and, therefore,
beg. In Niger Republic it is the custom that during the dry season,
most people will migrate to towns and do menial jobs to save money for
eventual use. They normally go back during raining season and farm.
In Maiduguri, all
the beggars you will see are those of Kanuri and Hausa extraction. You
will never see a Marghi, Kilba, Gwoza or Babur tribesman or woman
begging. Wallahi Tallahi! I have a friend a Marghi by tribe.
When I met him in the late nineties, he had just opened a stall
selling kolanuts and cigarettes. Today, his total assets in
monetary terms far outweigh mine. He is now a distributor for BAT
(British American Tobacco). If you ever venture into the Maiduguri
abattoir, butchers of Gwoza and Marghi extraction are the dominant
group. No issue can be addressed without their support and
cooperation. Back in the eighties during Shagari's time the single
derogatory remark that ignites a fight is for one to be called "Gwoza",
signifying a lowly position. Within two decades Gwoza people have
taken over almost everywhere including University of Maiduguri,
including academic positions. The secret of their success: dignity in
labour. They sincerely believe in working to earn a living. Yet the
Kanuris look at them as being serfs, simply because they have
conquered them in the distant past.
The same thing is
with the Hausa people. If you are not a Hausaman, even if you are
Muslim, you are simply a Kabila, (a derogatory term for
non-Hausa tribe). As if the Hausaman is superior to you. And
yet it won't be long before he comes to you early in the morning to
beg for one thing or the other, using many pretexts: My wife has a
newborn, or my child is sick, or Wallahi we haven't cooked for two
days in my house, etc. Try to engage him in a job. He will abscond
after two days. Methinks the main factor that inhibits us from
engaging in honest labour and predispose us to begging is simple:
laziness and belief in the glorious past of Danfodio and Elkanemi.
We simply believed that somebody should the labour for us,
while we enjoy the fruits much alike medieval times.
This problem was so
endemic that the late Sheikh Jaafar Mahmud Adam, lamented and
complained bitterly about it. In several occasions, he had complained
about it yet nobody bothers. For example it is only amongst Northern
Muslim that you see parents refusing to pay Islamiyya school fees of
fifty naira per child. Yet, the same person has money to buy a new
car. Secondly, only Northern Muslim parents hardly ever attend PTA
meeting. Yet they complain that standards have fallen and then resort
to change schools for their wards. We are simply running away from
responsibilities and yet claiming our rights. We cannot eat our cake
and have it. Simply, we are both proud and foolish.
Kunuz Gatam,
Malaysia
Honestly Malam you
touched a raw nerve in me. Because of the fact you eloquently
presented the bird's eye view of the 'almajiri" phenomenon. It is very
disheartening to find the almajiri in a very bad state, but they are
very noble as you said. But the piece is true. Permit me to tell you a
personal story.
Back in 1993, in
Maiduguri, my father decided to remedy my juniors' deficiency in
Qur'anic studies, because the malam in the Islamiyya had been
appointed a Qadi by the state Shariah Board and posted to a village.
So my father recruited a malam called Malam Abubakar from Kwaya Kusar
Local Government in Borno State. He was in Maiduguri to be a shop
attendant to one of his kinsmen. They learnt we need somebody that can
teach Qur'an to children so someone recommended him. He was very
humble. Wallahi, malam, within a very short time he managed to
convince us, we the "big boys," to replenish our Qur'anic stock and
memorization. He is adept at making small children enjoy his class and
equally the big boys too. So my father decided to employ him full
time. Finally, my father encouraged him to enroll into High Islam
College in Maiduguri and become literate in English. As of today he
has graduated with BA Shariah Law from University of Maiduguri. His
father visited us in year 2000 and cried tears of joy for what we did
to his son. That was when we learnt his mother died at infancy and was
nursed by a Fulani herd-woman and subsequently sent to Sheikh Usman
Dahiru Bauchi's College for Qur'anic studies. Today he is a member of
our family. He has more manners and etiquette than most of us. So I
sincerely believe what Alhaji Kiyawa is doing the single most
important tasks that we private individuals, particularly we the "boko
halal," can do improve on the the condition of the almajiri.
At the same time,
there are other irresponsible parents who use the almajiri system to
shirk away from their responsibilities by sending infants right away
from their mothers' breast into the system. I personally saw one in
Damaturu, in 2004. A five year old almajiri was crying of hunger. On
inquiry, I learnt that their father brought four of them to the malam
on the premise that his stock of grains will not last to the next
raining session if the kids remain at home. So they must be sent to go
and fend for themselves. How could a kid in this frame of mind grow up
and be noble and a good member of the society? Rather, he will grow up
and be hardened and bear a grudge against the whole society. So my
friend took it upon himself to buy three square meals for the kid
which cost nothing compared to our level of consumption.
Secondly, the malams
do not make things easy to benefactors. All of them are vying for
recognition and wealth. If you try to help the almajiri on a constant
basis, they resort to disturbing your peace until they become a bore.
When I was in Abuja, recently, I happened to be in Zamfara state
during the rainy session on an official assignment. So I decided
to check on the homestead of some my almajirai who are helping my
household to do some chores for a fee. Because they were very honest,
I decided to pay them for services rendered apart from feeding them on
sadaqa. Recently, I made it to their village and they were joyous to
see me. Their Malam beseeched me to contribute to their mosque
project. I did. Then just before I left Abuja this year, the same
malam sent his boys that the rains are here again and they need help.
So I have become a cash cow, to be milked, notwithstanding whether I
am in the position or not. It is this frame of mind that makes people
to simply get tired of trying to help.
Finally, our corrupt
leaders, particularly the Northern type, have devised a wonderful
strategy by feeding on our emotions. Simply by launching a "Tsangaya"
project, large amount of money is being siphoned away from the
treasury with the active connivance of the establishment malams.
Case study: Yobe State Tsangaya Project, launched by Maryam Bukar Abba
Ibrahim, former Yobe State "First lady." Apart from one simple
Tsangaya school in Bundugari ward, Damaturu, that was painted in
whitewashed, there is nothing on ground despite the colossal amounts
spent on the project.
Malam I rest my
alkalami (pen used by the almajiri to write the Qur'an on their
slates) here since I am still a titibiri am still on the
learning curve.
Ibrahim Isma'il,
Ontario, Canada
Hello
Aliyu. I just accidentally 'stumbled' on your write up. What a
discourse? I didn't get to read the two earlier pieces because I
hardly read the Desert Herald. But I can conjuncture what's likely to
be in those pieces. Congrats for this and your many other social
crusades. Our prayer is that those with "ears" should listen and take
appropriate actions. Just to add to the discussion, about 10 years ago
I had a boy that comes to my house to do some cleanings but within six
months he had brought three other siblings who also came to 'assist'
my wife with household chores, making them four in number. The
surprising thing was everyday they come early enough before breakfast,
so naturally we take breakfast with them. By noon all of them were
around and also by sunset. By implication they eat three meals in my
house.
Three
months down the road, one evening, the father came with
Kola nuts from their village to inform
me that a third wife had been forced on him and that he will be
grateful if I could accommodate the younger children
permanently. Well I leave you to guess what my response was. True
and funny, but that's what's happening. People are transferring their
responsibilities to somebody else in the name of almajirci.
Keep
the crusade going. Someday we will see light at the end of the tunnel.
Dr
Haruna Muktar
Nigeria
19 November 2009
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