President Muhammadu Buhari says the plan to ban the Almajiri system of education will not be immediate. Babagana Monguno, national security adviser, had announced that the
government was planning to proscribe the educational system in a bid to
curb insecurity.
The announcement had since generated reactions from Nigerians.
However, Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, in a statement on
Friday, said Buhari was not in a hurry to make decisions on Almajiri.
According to him, any necessary ban on Almajiri would follow due process and consultation with relevant authorities.
He said due consultations will be made with relevant agencies before
any action is taken, warning that plans for massive arrest of parents
are definitely are false.
This is in responses to earlier pronouncements by Buhari on free and compulsory basic education for every child
of primary and junior secondary school age in Nigeria, during his
speech at the inauguration of the National Economic Council (NEC).
The statement read: “The abrogation of the Almajiri (Qur’anic
learning system associated with begging on economic and religious
grounds peculiar to some Northern states) system of education remains an
objective but there is no immediate ban of it by the Buhari
Administration.
“The presidency, therefore, calls for caution in responses to the
pronouncements by President Muhammadu Buhari on free and compulsory
basic education for every child of primary and junior secondary school
age in Nigeria, during his speech on Thursday, June 20, at the
inauguration of the National Economic Council (NEC).
“While the Buhari administration is committed to free and compulsory
education as a long-term objective of bringing to an end, the phenomenon
of out-of-school children, any necessary ban on Almajiri would follow
due process and consultation with relevant authorities.
“Indeed, the federal government wants a situation where every child
of primary school age is in school rather than begging on the streets
during school hours.