With the myriad of problems in Nigeria and in particular in the north why is it that we are the only people with an insatiable appetite of producing beggars (otherwise known as almajirai)?
I find our discussions here very interesting yet not directed at problem solving and solutions. We appear to blame everthing and everybody else for our irresponsible actions, laziness, ignorance, arrogance, lack of education, lack of true business acumen etc. I see how we fight tooth and nail to say how evil america is, how evil or untrue christianity is, how sharia must be implemented at all cost without regard to anybody etc. Yet we never talk about how best to live together in our diversity and identify our strong points to build a place to benefit all who live in it.
I was recently in Nigeria and the number of almajirai of northern origins I saw in lagos I found very embarassing. Then I was in some of the eastern states, the story was the same. I was informed that a gov. of one of the southern states actually said all amajirais in his state must be put on a train shipped to the north (any where in the north) and dumped there.
I looked at these almajirais and asked myself are there no blind people from the south? are there no lepers from the south? are there no southerners without jobs? are there no southerners that are wheel chair bound? So why are they not on the streets begging like our people do? We even produce sarkin makafi (king of the blind), sarkin kutaru etc all these absurb titles and these "kings" when sometimes interveiwed on radio demand gov to allow them beg in certain areas etc, yet when you here a disabled southerner being interveiwed on the radio he talks fluently about the provision of disabled facilities in institutions to allow them engage in productive lives. I even tried to see a breakdown of people in special education in nigerian universities, the result was embarassing.
We have forums like these were we can talk exchange ideas etc but what we end up doing is engage in some religious or academic debate so that we look schooled rather than muyiwa juna fada ko muyi shawara da juna.
We discuss and blame OBJ for this and that, christians for this and that, sharia for this and that, one thing we must ask is even if budgets are not enough to do everything, can we honestly say the leaderships in northern states are doing a great job with what they get? what have they been doing with the money they have been recieving every year? Are they spending honestly and ensuring value for money in projects, as will be required under a real sharia state?
Without being setimental about religion can we honestly say sharia has changed anything for the better in most of the northern states? I can assure you that in most states in the US you will get more purnished for being drunk in public especially when driving than when you are drunk or driving drunk in most of the sharia states in nigeria, yet the US is not under sharia law, so what is the real motif behind the sharia?
Coming back to the issue of almajirai, in kano there a probably more mosques than people (please this is just a figure of speech) and at each of these mosques you are certain to find an endless queque of almajirai. One would have thought that with the introduction of sharia, these almajirais will dissappear, how wrong I was. What i can not understand is what is difficult in setting up a fund or account managed by a trusted and reputable organisation where all those with zakkat can put there money in so that street begging is banned and made an offence. There should be training or vocational centres put up for the disabled and beggars can be registered and enrolled in these facilities so that they can be productive citizens, surely this will also be in line with the true sharia principles.
Where is our zuchia jama'awhen will we say enough is enough?
Salam
mallamt should be congratulated for raising a very important issue. Many Muslims are reluctant to speak on this matter. Some will just want to see the problem disappear. But this will not happen if the problem is not attacked wholeheartedly.
Without a doubt, Almajirci is a northern-muslim phnenomena. It is not, however, an Islamically insipred or sanctioned practice. The reason why there are Almajirai on the street is simple. These are kids sent away from for study- a very commendable practice if done right. But to feed themselves, they resort to the very unsightly practice of street urchinism and begging.
We must not forget that part of this has to do with rural-urban migration. It used to be that Almajirai were sent to smaller cities where they could learn and at the same time help out tend the land of their maalam. But this has all but stopped because even the Almajiri wants to move into the city and reap it's benefits.
Now onto the solution.
~ Considering that 30 years ago, there were very few Almajirai on the streets, the question one must ask before a solution is found is, what caused it? I am thinking that the neglect of agriculture has to do with it. As stated earlier, almajirai were supposed to be farmers to sustain themselves. But because they left the country side and moved into the city, they have to find a new way of sustenance. And begging has become a very lucrative choice.
It is the govt's responsibility to stem this shift in population and a very substantial part of this begging problem will be solved this way.
~ The second issue to be addressed before this problem is done away with has to come from the religious leaders themselves. The religious leaders should play a very pivotal role in communicating to their students that begging is counter productive to one's self esteem and even health.
~ Thirdly, when able bodied men and women are caught doing this, they should be punished in a way that hurts. By this I mean fines and possibly even forcible relocation.
This is all I have to offer on this subject and I hope many other muslims will contribute in this respect because this is our problem and we'll have to deal with it.
Peace out!
Comrades
Its most definitely a breath of fresh air to see us finally addressing the real issues that in a cancer like manner eat at the heart of our society.
I regard "Almajichi" as a paracital tendency of the social commodity to suck what little blood remains out the veins of our communities while contributing nothing to its survival, point blank.! however I remain ignorant to what makes it seem ultimately endemic amongst the "northern" or to be precise the "Muslim" populous.
although, it will be nothing short of a lie to deny that begging exists and is a noteworthy problem in other places and societies (highly developed nations in inclusion). I'm certainly sure that Amin (not that you and I are on first name basis, just like the name ) have passed an occasional panhandler, standing by the Atlanta Sports profile at Five Points Plaza with a cardboard sign announcing his needs to passer-bys. in fact I have rarely taken the train in NY without running into folks some of which are women bearing infants in their arms asking for spare change. at bus depots, sports arenas, or within an arm reach of any ATM machine.(many of these people's claims are in fact legitimate they are people in dire need with No options but to succumb to panhandling ) the problem with "arewa" then is not regional or religious it rather is embedded deep within our social tapestries.
allow me an example to conritize the above assertion : I have an uncle in Zaria ( a relatively well known Islamic scholar ) whom by the age of 55 has already married and divorced at least 16 women, accumulating a flock of children that number above 40 ( this is some 10 years ago ). now with the income of a sheikh who himself dependant on the occasional gifts of the wealthy and well to do in exchange of "spiritual guidance", prayers, fortune telling, and what have you. he is left with no choice but to marry off the females most of the time at the tender age of 13 to men ten times their seniors. ( a complete barbaric practice if you ask me ). and cast off the males into the trenches of "almajirchi" under pretense of "knowledge seeking".
the above example by No means sums up the root of the problem. my intention is to demonstrate how certain elements within our social structures tend to keep aflame the fires of incompetence. and as Myadudu asserted the neglect of agriculture plays a decisive role as well. another thing is the very practicality of this "knowledge" that almajirai are supposed to be seeking: you have hundreds of pupils of all ages gathered at the feet of a "mallam" learning to read the holy Quran ( not understand it) dedicating a bulk of their childhoods and in some cases adulthood to learning how to read the Qur'an. without giving any thought to how will that help them construct a productive future.
and indeed the last totem on the pole is "our leaders" :) . but considering their performance on other grave and more immediate issues I assume it will be safe to conclude that they do not regard "almajichi" as a topic worthy of attention. after all their nicely ventilated vehicles are always ready to take them straight from the airport terminals to their respective mansions without having to bother with the battalions of beggars that both outnumber and besiege regular travellers at the airports :) .
Mallam. I as a person who very often is sympathetic to your views on kano online ( whether I voice my opinions or Not ) again find myself in adherence of your conclusion, concerning the erection of training and vocational centers. however I find it unbelievable that any governmental system "Sharia" or Not can miraculously make panhandling disappear. giving the complexity of the issue it will take both the alternative and education of the masses to follow it.
perhaps a law ought to be legislated to deal with the problem. this of course after providing the beggars with an alternative. like distribution of or peddling of goods ie. newsletters produced by nonprofit organisations or those "training and vocational centers".
measures should be taken to ensure their enrollment in such facilities. and productive punishments such as community service should be enforced on those who fail to comply.
forcible relocation however as an anti-almajirchi ordinance will merely just shift the practice and the practitioners to other promising locations more tolerant to it, or those not covered by the restrictions
as fines are sure to arise the arguments that if one is able to pay fines he/she would not be begging in the first place.
finally, as the northerners we to reflect on and openly address those social circumstances that lead to ALMAJIRCHI.
Peace, ONE
Almaqri
Wow
I am really heartened by the huge amount of practical good sense already evident in replies to Mallamt posting on this.
The most obvious root of this problem becomoing very prominent is the drift into the cities.
The most obvious solution is for the national and Staste governments in nigeria to put intop place huge and progressive schemes that will revolutionise agriculture,especially in the North, which could priovide well paid work for huge numbers of the population.
Those who have read some of my earlier posts will have read of the huge respect I had for the late Audu Bako who had a vision of an irrigated Kano State producing vegetable for most of Europe. That was thirty years ago. When I buy my veg in supermarkets here in Scotland I find that most of them come from Ghana and East Africa. The oil money blinded Nigeria to what it should have been doing for its economy. The oil money and the fertilisers that are a by-product of oil extraction should have turned Nigeria into the world's larder. The opportunity is still there. Kano State alone could provide vegetables for all of Europe. And provide well paid work for most of its people in the process.
On beggars I remember being outside Chelleram's store in Kano and being asked for "dash" . I had no change. "Ba komi, bature" said the beggar and opened his case to show me more money than I as a humble teacher had ever seen in my life.
That is part of the attraction of being a beggar.
Apologies for the spelling errors in my last post. I posted it without correcting it first.
Assalaam!
mallamt, thanks for a truly well though out topic that should really arouse our concern and most importantly our thinking caps in the hope that, at the end, we proffer some possible solutions for the benefit of our society.
myadudu and maqari, i cant agree any better with what u have all said, regarding the origin of this social meance called 'almajiranci' or 'almajirci' (u guys have to forgive my sakkwatanci please) and recommendations.
At the moment, 'bara' or 'roko' has become so endemic in our society that only government's intervention through legislation, side by side with initiatives like universal compulsory education for all (vocational education etc) can deal with it. This legislation, is better enacted by each state's legislature taking into consideration the peculiarities of the state.
At times, i really wonder-what the states legislatures are for? Seeing that, no state legislature ever thought about this menace and doing something about it in the north. Not even from the executive side has a legislation been contemplated. Furthermore, what of the level of Jamaatu nasr Islam? If such a body can have unanimity and champion the fight against Muslim marginalization at the political forum, why can't it see the menace of almajiranci and evolve a strategy to deal with it or even pass such a strategy to the northern governors for consideration? What of Islamic based NGOs? Do we have them? I believe if we do, they are a veritable avenues to champion this almajiranci abolotion crusade.
Finally, a suggestion to kanoonline forum. Why not after discussing a serious issue like this one, a communique with recommendations be issued and forwarded to any agency that is considered important in the implementation of such recommendations?
Wassalaam! Allah ya kara fadakar da mu- Ameen Summa Ameen!
Note: In my next post, i will want to share with u brothers some personal views of Sarkin-Almajirai na Arewa ma zauna Lagos about their activities in Lagos and why any attempt to stop them from 'bara' will fail according to him. He gave a lengthy interview to a Lagos newspaper which i read while i was staying in Lagos. The interview was very interesting and i am sure u guys will enjoy some bits of it.
Dan-Sokoto
While I find it easy to subscribe to the belief that begging is another social menace. I find it necessary to correct the the first dicussatnt(Mallamt) of the issue on 2 counts:
There is an issue of usage of right terminologies in that BARA is not the same with ALMAJIRCI. While the former is understood to be begging the latter is known to be scholarship, thus myself and all who are willing to identify with scholarship are known to be ALMAJIRAI.
It is not also true that here in this forum or anywhere else in the North people have not engaged in dicussing the menace of begging. Some two years back Ibrahim Ado-Kurawa presented a well reserched paper that dwelt on scholarship in Northern Nigeria and begging, how it stated and how it is now. I personally provided the link for the forumnites to go thru' the paper and allow a dispassionate debate. But unfortuantely nobody took time to read the 47 paged paper(perharps cos' it was too long as Amin would say) and give a critique.
BARA and ALMAJIRCI were also discussed at the last years 's annual K-Online gettogether. I think gogannaka provided us the details of the discussions on this Forum.
True to God there is nothing that would be said here about BARA in Northern Nigeria that has not been said and nothing worth doing by the government that has not been done by our individual state governments. Many PHD thesis have been written. Workshops organised for the Mu allims who keep pupils by NGOs and government. Practical initiatives by people like Hassan Katsina and others have been taken but all to no avail.
In Nigeria or Northern Nigeria in particular no legistlation can stop begging just like no any other action taken by government to stop other social menaces ever worked. Street begging like female hawking and insecurity in the land have grown ever worst over time. Nigeria is not capable of solving any problem as a nation.
Mr Waziri,
You give a very hopeless picture of Nigeria but it is hope that keeps us Nigerians going.I think problems can be solved and even such like begging.What the other discussants all suggested can be tried and i'm sure all we really need is dedication on the part of the state govts,legislators and citizens.We are all very embarassed by this problem.
Everything has a beginning and this discussion can very well be the beginning of the solution to this problem.
Yes, precious, I may have sounded radically different from the preceding commentators, but it is a truce of life that we cannot keep looking at the same problem from the same perspective and expect any meaningful solution. When we try a perspective and see it failing we change our reading method. But unfortunately we are not doing it that way. There is nothing good worth saying and recommending that has not been said about Nigeria but they all did not work. There is nothing worth saying or doing about Almajirci that has not been done but still no solution.
Read Ibrahim Ado-Kurawa and see for yourself first(please don't say it is too long, you can understand a problem only after giving it much time for study or else forget about finding solution). Perharps you can see the reason why complacently discussing only to blame the governors, implementation of Shari'a will remain an exercise in futility.
Left to me Nigeria is not capable of solving any problem. If it is then I ask which problem has it ever solved on the surface of this planet? When we can not live in hope we will certainly find reason to HARP ON in hope. It is the number one rule for survival.
_waziri's_ attempt to emphasis the difference between almajiri and maroka (bara) is welcomed and I am sure to those who did not know now know the difference. But again it is one of those futile exercises in academic debates for a practical problem that requires a practical solution. I am sure that if _waziri_ had read the postings made he would have been able to deduce what writers meant in their use of the term almajiri, and subsitute the term for a term he is more comfortable with, I do not think anyone has a problem with that. _waziri_ should please not that the term almajiria was used in its everyday spoken usage which is found in the streets of northern towns and capitals.
_waziri_ has made an assertion that this is an issue that has been discussed in several forums including this previous and added that there is nothing that can be said here that has not been said before. That may be true again but I suppose _waziri_ is assumming that we were as previlaged as he was to have been part of those other discussions or even to have read from those discussions. I have also just tried to get into the link provided us by _waziri_ but it appears there is something wrong with it.
_waziri's_ position that so much has been said on this matter and nothing more can be said about it is a self defeatist one. Can you imagine where we would be if that was the position those that developed cars, aircrafts etc took or even those that took the lead in fight slavery and other injustices. The fact that so many discussions have taken place on the matter and it keeps getting was means may be energies have been put in the wrong direction and other ways need to be found. The almajiria (maroka) issue is now not an academic exercise but a practical problem hence this dicussion.
_waziri_ is not unique or alone on his position on issues regarding nigeria. There are a lot of other nigerians that hold a very pessimistic veiw of the place and I sometimes honestly do not blame them. There pessimism arises out of personal experiences and sometimes it may be easy for those outside the country to be optimistic. It is thus a responsibility of the optimists to contribute and try and get somethings to work in that country only then will pessimists start to be won over. But as it is they may have very legitimate points.
It is heartening to see the very positive comments and statements made in trying to highlight the source of the problem and proffering possible solutions. I believe the problem is not entirely a "muslim" problem but an arewa one because it affects all of us and we should all look at possible solutions. The suggestion that may be a communique or so should be put forward is excellent. I know that there are people who contribute here and others who visit here that have contacts or connections in corridors of power who can use their positions to ensure that something no matter has small is heard and is done. As _waziri_ and co have highlighted almajiri had a nobel begining, but this has been sort of hijacked. Most of these beggars are genuinely desparete and I believe that with the rich people we have in kano surely they can start something and get the govt involved. As suggested earliar why can't there be a central fund where all those that want to give something put there money in? Obviously the main issue with this idea is that it will only creat another source of money where some people will enrich themselves. That is why I believe such a fund should be managed as a business by indipendent persons and they report to the people of the state. Such a body will be overseen by a board or group of representatives of the muslim council and other religions in the state, then begging is banned. One is not saying that this happens over night but it should be seen as a process and all the studies, research etc as mentioned by _waziri_ can be re looked and evaluated for their practicality for implementation. No one is saying the menace can be cleared over night, but there are some things for clearing the menace that can commence now, a blue print/master plan for clearing the menace should actually now be developed and we should be able to budget for it yearly.
Interesting reply Mallamt,
While I do not believe all discussions must be approached from academic point of view, I see the impracticability of getting viable solution when we do not really know the basic divisions even in linguistic terms of the subject matter we are discussing. You know MAROKA(Town criers) are quite different from MABARATA(Beggers) different also from ALMAJIRAI( Scholars). It appears like Mallamt is not really Hausa as he severely tried to make us believe over time.
I like the following quote from your reply and it precisely expressed the point I am trying to make:
Quote from: "mallamt"
_waziri's_ position that so much has been said on this matter and nothing more can be said about it is a self defeatist one. Can you imagine where we would be if that was the position those that developed cars, aircrafts etc took or even those that took the lead in fight slavery and other injustices. The fact that so many discussions have taken place on the matter and it keeps getting was means may be energies have been put in the wrong direction and other ways need to be found.
:wink:
You know whenever we undertake a project of making a new car which is hoped to be better, we study everything of car we have on ground first. It is then and only then we can improve. If not, we will only get to produce the same type we have or even retrogress into producing a substandard one. This is the same with the issue of ALMAJIRCI. We have to learn to diligently study the previous works on it before we expect us to produce better solutions to it. It in this light I made reference to the work of Ibrahim Ado Kurawa about it, but unfortunately the link bad. I will try to reach across to him and get the work or a good link to it so that we can study every thing of it and see how we can improve or progress from where others stopped.
On the issue of Nigerian Nation I indeed am pessimistic to the core and I am afraid, the possibilities are high that it is the pessimists that are going to win over the optimists. Nigeria is now conducting the 8th constitutional conference which makes it ones at the average interval of 6 years and more than any other country has ever done in the world. But still as we can see, the solutions are farfetched even as Muslims are saying they will never ever accept the resolutions of the conference which will inevitably lead to another conference in six years or less to come in future.
_waziri_ , although I find the later part of your submission relevant, I find the first part again academic and smacks of myopism on your part, I just wonder if you took time to read the first part of my submission which you were responding to which reads thus
Quote_waziri's_ attempt to emphasis the difference between almajiri and maroka (bara) is welcomed and I am sure to those who did not know now know the difference. But again it is one of those futile exercises in academic debates for a practical problem that requires a practical solution. I am sure that if _waziri_ had read the postings made he would have been able to deduce what writers meant in their use of the term almajiri, and subsitute the term for a term he is more comfortable with, I do not think anyone has a problem with that. _waziri_ should please not that the term almajiria was used in its everyday spoken usage which is found in the streets of northern towns and capitals.
and now see your response
QuoteWhile I do not believe all discussions must be approached from academic point of view, I see the impracticability of getting viable solution when we do not really know the basic divisions even in linguistic terms of the subject matter we are discussing. You know MAROKA(Town criers) are quite different from MABARATA(Beggers) different also from ALMAJIRAI( Scholars). It appears like Mallamt is not really Hausa as he severely tried to make us believe over time.
Now what part of my explanation is it that _waziri_ does not understand? or is it just his utter disgust for me that makes him respond in the manner that he does (that is without thinking)? I assume that _waziri_ is an educated adult who would not stoop soo low to make silly and childish comments just because they do not like an individual. A question to _waziri_ what does my being hausa or not have to do with my being concerned with the problem of almajirai? I really do not care where _waziri_ is from that is his business and I do not care where _waziri_ thinks I am from whether I am hausa or not is not the issue here. I may have problems with my hausa spelling so do some hausas who may not be living in nigeria have problems speaking hausa talk more of writing in hausa does that make them any less hausa? _waziri_ please grow up and focus on the issue being discussed!!!!
LMAO @ Khalil. Ustaz Ibraheem, forever the meticulous academic. :lol: however I don't think that we can revoke Mallam's Hausa membership card on grounds of such subtle nuances. you know vocabulary is like those felt tip pens when one does not use them often they tend to dry up. I'm always embarrassed when I attempt to speak Hausa only to find myself bankrupt of vocabs, but I will readily take an ax to the neck of any person who try to deny me my Hausa background :lol: . anyhow all this is besides the point.
while it stands an inarguable fact that all debates intellectual or Not require being informed on the subject matter it does not in any sense imply that all discussion should cease until one reads a particular article. if the participants feel equipped to do without it, in my opinions they reserve all rights to proceed. Waziri knowing you I can almost hear the verse of Attahiya echoing In your brain :wink: , when he said :
Iza Daarat-il-Ajdaalu bainiy wa bainakum * Fa ahsanu shai'in ma taqulu-l-Awaa'ilu............
Mallamt ( by the way, what does the "T" stand for ? just curious ) I find your comment of "sometimes it may be easy for those outside the country to be optimistic" to bear a lot of common sense. its true that sometimes its easier for us to extend a directing finger than an accusing one. in all honesty I sometime find myself guilt ridden when discussing intense issues that burden our people back home. after all who better assesses the situation ? us that lounge quite comfortably in our rich developed host nations of choice, or those masses of folks back home who pay for the leadership ( or mis-leadership in effect ) with their blood sweat and tears ? I don't know.
as of "bara" I say ladies/gentlemen let us proceed with the discussions, and it might be wise to read the article if Waziri's attempt to provide it reach fruition.
peace ONE
Maqari
OK, Mallamt,
I am not denying you the right to speak about ROKO, ALMAJIRANCI or BARA but I insist that in simple vocabulary these things must be used rightly in order to achieve better communication and appear informed about the subject matter you are discussing. Don't say I hate you again. You are doing a great disservice to yourself. If I don't correct you now the next thing will be for you to get confused when next some forumnite post something about MAROKA. You will obviously think it is MABARATA he/she is making reference to which will course more damage to the entire discussion than good. I think it is better that I addressed it now, for your good obviously.
The part of my submission that wondered whether you were really Hausa was penned in recollection of many claims you made to being one in the past on this board. Then came the doubs as to why a Hausa person will be ignorant of the difference between MAROKA and MABARATA. Afterall it was only a comment by the side of the main issue of discourse.
Usman,
It is obvious from the first post to the time of my intervention, the discussants are not well equiped on the subject of discourse, thus I undertook a journey to put the problem in broad perspective for us to be able to get a viable solution to the problem. Is this a crime? Or is it undesirable?
If you really got my argument you would see that the need to read Ado-Kurawa is there only to update our knowledge about BARA in Northern Nigeria which I suppose if we refuse to we are not likely, at the end of this discussion, to produce any practical and relevant solution to the problem as it relates to contemporary Nigeria. We may end up coming up with a communique that recommend what has been tried but failed since 1960's as the resolution of our discussion. By that instead of providing solution to the problem of BARA in Northern Nigeria, we will take it back to 1960's starting all over again. So update your knowledge and exercise your brain muscles with that article and get back to me.
This topic started off well discussing the social probelm of beggars in the streets of mainly Northern cities and has now lost the thread due to argument about the meaning of words. Can we get back to examining possible solutions to this problem and drop the semantic arguements?
Quote from: "Dave_McEwan_Hill"This topic started off well discussing the social probelm of beggars in the streets of mainly Northern cities and has now lost the thread due to argument about the meaning of words. Can we get back to examining possible solutions to this problem and drop the semantic arguements?
Ok, Mr. David go and discuss the social problems of begging and at the end of the day release your communique which is agaist MAROKA and ALMAJIRAI to see whether anybody out there will take you serious.
This is a simple truth. Accept the corrections made, appear humble and don't believe Waziri hates you or is being too academic then at the end of the day you will yourself having a well focused discussion and a communique that will be taken serious by the public.
Assalaam!
Despite the relevant observation introduced by my very good brother Waziri, i am of the opinion that we continue on our chosen path of dissecting the problems of 'almajirai masu zuwa bara gida gida a cikin Nigeria'. Most of them young boys are plucked from their villages, towns and families brought under tutelage of an Islamic teacher travelling from one place to another surving under what soldiers literally call "living off the land", and some other types of begging as well.
To address Waziri's concerns, despite whatever minor lack of understanding we have in the semantics/meanings and definitions, we are all one and the same in understanding the social menace we are talking about and the need to stamp it out. Like a US supreme court judge said on the defination of pornography - that even though he may be at difficulty defining it, he knows it when he sees it. So, it is with the issue we are discussing now. Where others have tried and have not been successful, we may just try and become successful. Who says for instance, a participant in this discourse may one day not be in a position to make things happen to bring about a change in this menance? For God's sake Waziri, let us try our best and let us know that we have tried our best. Like Ado Kurawa whom u said had written before- my prayer for him is that, may the almighty Allah reward him for his efforts-Amen. So Waziri, please cheer up and dont loose hope.
Without going too much into the semantics, i basically understand we are dealing with broadly 2 issues of this nature. First is the issue of almajirai, the young islamic scholars who move from place to place in search of Quranic/Islamic education. They have to beg to sustain themselves. Secondly, there is the beggars who don't fall into the categories of seekers of Quranic/Islamic education but just beg due to one disability or the other. Yet there could be another category of those who just go and beg without any disability. For me, i think we should address all these categories without any exception.
I promised to narrate a small story about beggars of northern extraction based in Lagos. Here it goes:-
Some years back during IBB regime in Nigeria, Alhaji Abubakar Alhaji was installed Sardaunan Sokoto by Sultan Dasuki. We may all recall that since the demise of late Ahmadu Bello in January 1966, nobody was found fit enough to be bestowed such a reverred title made very very important by the late premiere of northern nigeria. So after the turbanning ceremony, the new Sardauna came back to his base in Lagos and on arrival he received a tumultous welcome at the airport from the hausas based in Lagos headed by the Sarkin Hausawa. part of the Sarkin Hausawa's speech and request was for the new Sardauna to please help in stopping begging by northerners in Lagos which is greatly diminishing the northern esteem to an average notherner based in Lagos. That only northerners were seen roaming the street and begging up and down up to including in front of churches and brothels all over Lagos. The new sardauna promised he was going to try his best and bring in his influence to bear in seeing that he lived up to expectation of northerners in solving their problems.
Not quite 7 days after this epoch welcome which was widely publicised, a Lagos based newspaper most probable from my re-collection THE PUNCH visited Ebutta Metta near the Railway compound popularly called OYINGBO which was the hub and the centre of all northern beggars (kutare da makafi) in Lagos and interviewed their leader, moe so on the request made by the Sarkin Hausawa to the new Sardauna about them. The interview was lengthy but interesting and i will try to summarize some very important aspects of it as follows:
1. That, northerners based in lagos feel ashame to associate with those of them on the streets and when they see them they take off their faces.
2. That they want northerners to know that, they were in lagos not to get anything from northerners but from the good, loving and caring Yoruba people, who dont despise them but were always in sympathy with them.
3. That, he the new sardauna should concern himself with his affairs and that he was no where near late Ahmadu Bello and could never be.
4. That able bodied northerners in Lagos could not show them any thing, since they are able to feed, cloths and shelter their families. Pictures of two beggars (one blind the other lepper) were printed by the newspaper who said, they have children in ABU Zaria whom they sponsor through what they were getting in Lagos.
5. That no amount of machinations by northerners in Lagos could spoil their business and that they have a good time tested relationship with their hosts, the Yoruba which northerners should just leave alone.
The interview was so lengthy and interesting, and i just tried to highlight it so as to give u some insights into the thinking of at least some hard core beggars who have gone beyond northern nigeria.
Dan-Sokoto
Quote from: "Dan-Sokoto"Who says for instance, a participant in this discourse may one day not be in a position to make things happen to bring about a change in this menance? For God's sake Waziri, let us try our best and let us know that we have tried our best.
Dan-Sokoto,
Thank you for accepting to adjust to the correct use of the right semantics. I knew if anybody would not do it Dan-Sokoto would certainly not believe I hate only for the simple reason that I correct. Now, you have Almajirai, Qur'anic students who carry bowls from house to house begging for food and other beggers(MABARATA) who are not students but beg.
I suppose the above quote is in reply to the part of my post which expressed maximum pessimism in the exercise of problem solving in Nigeria. To be most precise I do not mean we, as
Nigerians or
K-onliners are incapable of solving problems at all. But I believe that Nigeria, the structure and composition has always made it impossible for any well meaning soul to record excellence in problem solving exercise. Thus I conclude everything worth saying about this thing has been said and everything worth doing has been done. And we cannot keep looking at the same problem from the same point of view and expect any solution out of it. Needless to say that I did not mean this dicussion must be stopped but it can find more meaning when built only on the insights many others have provided in the past. A discussion that will prescribe a 1980's solutions to the problem of 2005 cannot mean any progress.
From the onset I think begging not the one by the scholars but the one by the able bodied or lepers and the blind was borne out of the altruistic tendencies inborn in northern-Muslim culture. It is the Qur'an that first say to the Muslims:
Wafi amwaalikum hakkunlissa'ili walmahruum ( In your wealth is a portion for those who ask and those that are in need but could not ask).
Also:
Wa ammassa'ili fala tanhar (
To those who beg do not scold).
This actually is what makes Northern-Muslims to always be willing givers. It is also the reason why everywhere in Nigeria northerners are known as to very generous people. But the general implication has always been the proliferation of willing accepters in northern Nigeria who will go to places like Lagos in search of those who can give them.
I find it difficult to believe that the interview with those beggers by the PUNCH was not carried in good faith.
First for the always anti-North and pro Yoruba stance of the paper which in several sitioutions found it relevant to tell many lies about Northerners and their leaders.
Second, the interview did not make any effort to solve any problem but to potray a sort of FIGHTING and disagreement between the Northern leaders and the begger population.