Kaduna State governor, Nasir Ahmed El-Rufa’i has urged those operating Almajiri schools in the State to relocate to other States.
El-Rufa’i, who stated this during the inauguration of the Kaduna State Child Protection and Welfare Committee yesterday in Kaduna, said that the State government would not condone their operation in the State.
According to him, “We are working on the almajiri system and many people do not agree with what we are doing, but we are very confident and sure of the rightness of our actions; so, my message to all those that have almajiris in Kaduna State is: you have a choice to relocate, otherwise sooner or later we will get you”.
The governor added that the State social investment office has been working across the 24 local government areas to have a comprehensive social register of the poorest and most vulnerable in the society. He disclosed that the social register has so far more than one million households, and assured that every government intervention would be channeled to those on the social register.
Earlier, the Commissioner, Human Services and Social Development, Hajiya Hafsat Baba, explained that the committee has legal backing and would be set up at the State and local government levels. She added that the 20 members of the committee inaugurated were from various sectors and agencies, identified and trained by UNICEF.
The commissioner disclosed that her ministry has a database of over 10,817 almajirai, who will be enrolled into formal schools. She also said that the government had constructed a Women’s Centre in Kaduna, which will be a center of excellence for child protection and victims of gender-based violence.
She said that a philanthropist, Musa Bello, of Aman Foundation, has pledged to support the government with N300 million for the improvement of the 10 model Tsangaya schools in the State.
Baba added that the State government would also provide similar amounts to ensure “child protection and best example of a simplest integration of Quranic education, literacy and numeracy and skills development”.
