‘Plaiting louse-infested hair’ (I)
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- Category: Philosofaith
- Written by M. U. Ndagi
- Hits: 3318
The title of this piece, as in quotation marks, is a close translation of a popular Nupe adage. Native speakers of the language use it when the basics that ought to have been carefully considered in resolving a crisis were (wittingly or accidentally) ignored. It is also used to describe a situation in which a person is found building edifices of thoughts and ideas on weak or false precepts. Buying a controversial plot of land, purchasing goods without seeing them, or seeking to marry an already betrothed lady, are other circumstances in which the Nupe adage is used. A Nupe man or woman would, for instance, say to a person developing a controversial plot of land that he/she is only ‘plaiting louse-infested hair”; because the controversy surrounding the land ought to have been resolved before erecting any structure on it. This is the perspective from which this column looks at the Almajiri Initiative that was recently launched by President Goodluck Jonathan in Sokoto State.
Many Nigerians believe that the Initiative, like similar projects in the past, is no more than a government cosmetic scheme designed to score cheap political goals, and thus fizzle out soon after the hilarious unveiling fanfare. Because government, maybe, was in a haste to announce the “fulfillment” of one of her campaign promises of “eradicating” almajirci in the northern part of Nigeria, President Jonathan and his team of “advisers” forgot to consider it wise enough to treat the “louse-infested hair” before “plaiting” it.Some Nigerians believe that the real goal President Jonathan intends to score with the almajiri project on the political pitch of northern Nigeria (which team is at present without a technical adviser or a captain) is the kind scored by late President Umaru Yar’adua with his amnesty programme in fulfillment of his campaign promise, which amazingly resolved the militancy crisis in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Mr. President’s enthusiasm in proclaiming the “fulfillment of a campaign promise” can only be understood to be a confirmation of this insinuation.
The challenges on the new initiative’s path to reasonable success are so enormous and fundamental that one is prompted to agree with the argument of those who doubt government’s sincerity in the whole affair. Contemporary Nigeria appears to be ‘blessed” with a crop of leaders who look at and discuss education (and matters related to learning) as if it were the game of soccer, the most popular sports in contemporary world. Some sovereign countries do not have national teams affiliated to the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA). Yet, they are relatively doing well. But no nation, of course, develops or prospers without investing or giving education the crucial attention it deserves. Our leaders, perhaps, have the illusion that Nigeria could thrive with crisis-ridden education sector!
An Almajiri Model Boarding School was recently commissioned by President Goodluck Jonathan at Gagi in Sokoto State. The Model school which has boarding facilities is, according to government officials, one of the 100 billed for commissioning by June 2012. It was constructed by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETF). The school comprises of 15 blocks of classrooms, dormitories, language laboratory, clinic, recitation room, vocational workshops, a dining hall and teachers’ quarters. Thirty-four more of such boarding schools are going to be built across 18 northern states and Auchi in Edo State. This project, the federal government announced, would cost five billion naira.
If any aspect of the Qur’anic school system in Nigeria dominated public discourse over the years, it is the almajiranci phenomenon and its institutionalization. Almajiranci is a Hausa word from which derives almajiri. By definition, almajiranci is a traditionally adopted means of sustenance for pupils and students of Qur’anic schools. Technically, it entails Islamically prescribed means of providing welfare and meeting the needs of Muslims who have travelled in search of knowledge. Alms (or Sadaqa) and donations from well wishers were originally the only legitimate and major means upon which such schools survive. But over time, beggary (or bara in Hausa) was incorporated in to the system.
The renewed effort by government in her search for a solution to almajiranci, which has remained intractable in the north of Nigeria, is quite laudable. The newly launched Almajiri Initiative that seeks to integrate Qur’anic with Western education, the Boko, would avail the almajirai with opportunities for skills acquisition, which is the missing component in the written and un-written curriculum of existing Tsangaya schools where the almajirai are customarily enrolled. After all, a major part of the challenges faced by all state governments in the north of Nigeria is the deliberate neglect of the region’s human capital.
It is just the very many questions about the new Almajiri Project on the lips of concerned Nigerians that create anxiety in some people. Government from the look of things does not readily have any articulated plans to incorporate Malams (proprietors and teachers) of existing Tsangaya schools that would be displaced by the new Initiative from their customary occupation of running such schools, in to the project. Any attempt to preclude them from the new Initiative could hamper the success of the scheme. This could be a potential cog in the initiative’s wheel of “transformation”.
Page 9 of the Weekly Trust edition of Saturday April 14, 2012 carries a report on “The odds before the Almajiri Initiative. In this report, one of the operators of traditional Qur’anic schools is quoted as saying, “we will not take our almajiri (children) to the school…I have 130 children with me”. Authorities would be saving the initiative from the general public misgivings if those who qualify among the Tsangaya teachers could be engaged. However, the project is likely to yield better results if authorities develop a model that would build and improve upon existing framework of Tsangaya schools. Proprietors of the Tsangaya system could be supported to upgrade their centers to Model Almajjiri Schools where Islamic and Western (Boko) education would be taught and learned under one roof. This, in addition, has cost effective implications for government’s new Initiative. The discourse continues next week, insha Allah. May Allah guide the leadership and followership in Nigeria in their collective search for viable solutions to the country’s challenges, amin.
‘Plaiting louse-infested hair’ (I)
Category: Philosofaith Written by M. U. Ndagi Hits: 3318
The title of this piece, as in quotation marks, is a close translation of a popular Nupe adage. Native speakers of the language use it when the basics that ought to have been carefully considered in resolving a crisis were (wittingly or accidentally) ignored. It is also used to describe a situation in which a person is found building edifices of thoughts and ideas on weak or false precepts. Buying a controversial plot of land, purchasing goods without seeing them, or seeking to marry an already betrothed lady, are other circumstances in which the Nupe adage is used. A Nupe man or woman would, for instance, say to a person developing a controversial plot of land that he/she is only ‘plaiting louse-infested hair”; because the controversy surrounding the land ought to have been resolved before erecting any structure on it. This is the perspective from which this column looks at the Almajiri Initiative that was recently launched by President Goodluck Jonathan in Sokoto State.
Many Nigerians believe that the Initiative, like similar projects in the past, is no more than a government cosmetic scheme designed to score cheap political goals, and thus fizzle out soon after the hilarious unveiling fanfare. Because government, maybe, was in a haste to announce the “fulfillment” of one of her campaign promises of “eradicating” almajirci in the northern part of Nigeria, President Jonathan and his team of “advisers” forgot to consider it wise enough to treat the “louse-infested hair” before “plaiting” it.Some Nigerians believe that the real goal President Jonathan intends to score with the almajiri project on the political pitch of northern Nigeria (which team is at present without a technical adviser or a captain) is the kind scored by late President Umaru Yar’adua with his amnesty programme in fulfillment of his campaign promise, which amazingly resolved the militancy crisis in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Mr. President’s enthusiasm in proclaiming the “fulfillment of a campaign promise” can only be understood to be a confirmation of this insinuation.
The challenges on the new initiative’s path to reasonable success are so enormous and fundamental that one is prompted to agree with the argument of those who doubt government’s sincerity in the whole affair. Contemporary Nigeria appears to be ‘blessed” with a crop of leaders who look at and discuss education (and matters related to learning) as if it were the game of soccer, the most popular sports in contemporary world. Some sovereign countries do not have national teams affiliated to the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA). Yet, they are relatively doing well. But no nation, of course, develops or prospers without investing or giving education the crucial attention it deserves. Our leaders, perhaps, have the illusion that Nigeria could thrive with crisis-ridden education sector!
An Almajiri Model Boarding School was recently commissioned by President Goodluck Jonathan at Gagi in Sokoto State. The Model school which has boarding facilities is, according to government officials, one of the 100 billed for commissioning by June 2012. It was constructed by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETF). The school comprises of 15 blocks of classrooms, dormitories, language laboratory, clinic, recitation room, vocational workshops, a dining hall and teachers’ quarters. Thirty-four more of such boarding schools are going to be built across 18 northern states and Auchi in Edo State. This project, the federal government announced, would cost five billion naira.
If any aspect of the Qur’anic school system in Nigeria dominated public discourse over the years, it is the almajiranci phenomenon and its institutionalization. Almajiranci is a Hausa word from which derives almajiri. By definition, almajiranci is a traditionally adopted means of sustenance for pupils and students of Qur’anic schools. Technically, it entails Islamically prescribed means of providing welfare and meeting the needs of Muslims who have travelled in search of knowledge. Alms (or Sadaqa) and donations from well wishers were originally the only legitimate and major means upon which such schools survive. But over time, beggary (or bara in Hausa) was incorporated in to the system.
The renewed effort by government in her search for a solution to almajiranci, which has remained intractable in the north of Nigeria, is quite laudable. The newly launched Almajiri Initiative that seeks to integrate Qur’anic with Western education, the Boko, would avail the almajirai with opportunities for skills acquisition, which is the missing component in the written and un-written curriculum of existing Tsangaya schools where the almajirai are customarily enrolled. After all, a major part of the challenges faced by all state governments in the north of Nigeria is the deliberate neglect of the region’s human capital.
It is just the very many questions about the new Almajiri Project on the lips of concerned Nigerians that create anxiety in some people. Government from the look of things does not readily have any articulated plans to incorporate Malams (proprietors and teachers) of existing Tsangaya schools that would be displaced by the new Initiative from their customary occupation of running such schools, in to the project. Any attempt to preclude them from the new Initiative could hamper the success of the scheme. This could be a potential cog in the initiative’s wheel of “transformation”.
Page 9 of the Weekly Trust edition of Saturday April 14, 2012 carries a report on “The odds before the Almajiri Initiative. In this report, one of the operators of traditional Qur’anic schools is quoted as saying, “we will not take our almajiri (children) to the school…I have 130 children with me”. Authorities would be saving the initiative from the general public misgivings if those who qualify among the Tsangaya teachers could be engaged. However, the project is likely to yield better results if authorities develop a model that would build and improve upon existing framework of Tsangaya schools. Proprietors of the Tsangaya system could be supported to upgrade their centers to Model Almajjiri Schools where Islamic and Western (Boko) education would be taught and learned under one roof. This, in addition, has cost effective implications for government’s new Initiative. The discourse continues next week, insha Allah. May Allah guide the leadership and followership in Nigeria in their collective search for viable solutions to the country’s challenges, amin.