Mark Urges Northern Govs to Ban Almajiri System

Mark Urges Northern Govs to Ban Almajiri System

Senator David Mark

Omololu Ogunmade

Senate President  David Mark  Wednesday accused northern governors and leaders from the zone of spearheading the growth of Almajiri and charged them to ban the system now.

While describing the trend as un-Islamic, Mark said the federal government would henceforth move against untidy acts by any group of people under the guise of unemployment.

Mark issued this threat during a debate on "A Bill for an Act to Repeal and Re-enact the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Act 2003,”  led by Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba.

Mark's comment followed allegation of parental negligence raised by Senator Alkali Abdulkadir Jajere, (Yobe South) during the debate.

Jajere emphasised the need for stiff legislation that could compel parents, particularly of Northern extraction, to take adequate care of their children, adding that it was time that the almajiri system in the region was phased out.

He cited his own pathetic story as an almajiri before he was enrolled in a school as he recalled that many of the children who engage in the act never had the opportunity he had to be educated.

In reaction to the story, Mark said: “It is amazing when we tend to make excuses for our failings. If you cannot gain employment, you go and join a terrorist group so that you can be employed.

“You join Boko Haram because you have no employment. If you are poor, then you begin to trade and traffick in human beings so that you can be rich. These are all excuses. What about the people who are buying these people outside? Is it because they can’t find employment or because they are poor? I think we should stop making excuses.

“Everything is reduced to the level of unemployment in the country. Nigeria is not the only country where everybody is not employed. That you are not employed does not mean you should go and do something very bizarre. You open up a baby factory; you begin to sedate people and remove their organs to sell. It’s just never a good excuse for some of the things that we do”.

The bill, which passed through second reading, was referred to the committees on Women Affairs, Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters.