‘North’s six million Almajiris potential security threat to Nigeria’

The Mallam Aminu Kano International Foundation on Human Development yesterday said the six million Almajiris scattered over the states in the North pose a potential security threat to Nigeria.

Its president, Ibrahim Waiya, who gave the alert during an orientation programme for youth volunteers in Kano, regretted that of the nation’s 10 million out-of-school children according to statistics dished out by UNICEF, 60 per cent of them, amounting to six million, were in the northern region.

The social activist, while blaming government for shirking its primary duty of provision of functional and compulsory education for every child nationwide, lamented that the nation was wasting its potential human resources.

According to Waiya, “why the government is working effortless to scale up the fight against the Boko Haram sect and other emerging security challenges, the continued neglect of millions of idle children roaming the streets in the name of search for knowledge could raise an unimaginable threat to national security.”

He went on: “ A careful study will show you that Nigeria is only sitting on a time bomb with 10 million out-of-school children, 60 per cent of them in the North roaming the streets in the name of learning Islamic knowledge. It is a clear sign of danger waiting to happen.

“Nigeria is simply neglecting its resources. China, with about 1.2 billion population, is still doing credibly well in terms of human management and the economy. They are fast becoming an emerging economy in the world. Nigeria has no reason to lament about her population.”He disclosed that his foundation was partnering with DevProNet International to train 70 youth volunteers who are be posted to various communities in Kano to assist the Almajiris and other indigent children.

Waiya stated that community development was part of the foundation’s initiative geared at promoting the ideals and principles of the late northern political icon, Mallam Aminu Kano.“ So far, we have trained more than 2,000 women in partnership with the Kano State Agency for Mass Literacy on skill acquisition and elementary education. Many of those trained are today masters of their own trade. “We have also sponsored about 50 students to university in Edo State due to shortage of admissions in some of our universities in the North,” he added.