Promise’s Group (Promise Chidubem Okoli, Vahyela Ishaku Teri, Innocent Chukwuebuka
Udezeh, Saqil Ismail, Habib Tijjani)
Prof. Samuel Chiedu Utulu
INF 490 – Midterm Examination (Group)
12/17/20
Question
How does family stability affect development using the Almajiri as a case study?
Answer
They are typically found on the streets of Northern Nigeria, often moving in groups,
begging for money or scrambling over a small plate of food. At times, they move from house
to house, singing the “yar bakara” (begging songs), and calling for someone in the house to
come to their aid. They are known as Almajiris and constitute a significant portion of
Nigeria’s 13.2 million out of school children. What led to the prevalent nature of the Almajiri?
Is a question that this paper seeks to answer. The Almajiri are colloquially referred to as
children that usually beg on the streets and do not attend secular school in Northern Nigeria.
The family is the one basic levels in which individuals need to attain a certain level of
development before they can become useful to themselves and the society as a whole. Family
stability facilitates the environment in which a reasonable level of family development
blossoms.
Following multiple group discussions and brainstorming sessions, we were able to
come up with the factors we believe could lead to the instability of the families of the Almajiri
children which would in turn affect their development. These factors include; poverty,
polygamy, government negligence and illiteracy.
POVERTY;
One of the major factors affecting family stability instability in Almajiri homes is
poverty. When a family does not have any sustainable source of income, the parents are often
faced with the difficult decision of sending out the children into the streets to crowdsource
for money. The experience of long-term poverty influences the development of the
personality of a child through a continuum of family stress in which poverty is perceived to be
one of the major factors. This causes dysfunction in the family, tension among caregivers and
insufficient parenting. According to 2003 World Bank figures, out of the 4.8 billion people in
the developing world, 1.2 billion live on $1 a day while another 2.8 billion live on less than $2
a day.
Many factors, including underemployment and unemployment, lead to family
poverty. Because of being born into a specific social category identified by ethnicity, class and
location, some may inherit poverty.
POLYGAMY (POLYGYNY);
This is practice commonly seen in Northern Nigeria when a man marries multiple
wives. This practice usually leads to a family having numerous children which could lead to
negative effects on the family such as depressive and anxiety disorders, somatization
disorders and a loss of self- esteem. In the case of the Almajiri children, with the poverty that
plagues the north coupled with the large number of children needed to be taken care with
limited resources, parents eventually have to take the hard decision to send these children
out to seek alms in order to fend for themselves and sometimes even for their respective
families. Polygamous families also play a role in the overpopulation of Nigeria which is a
discussion that extends beyond the dimensions of this paper.
GOVERNMENT NEGLIGENCE;
Government negligence is a strong factor that plays a key role into the poverty, under-
development and the beggarly and destitute lifestyle of the Almajiri children. Corrupt
government officials often embezzle the funds that are required for creating jobs and building
infrastructure. It is argued that if the government provided the families with more
employment and economic opportunities, the parents would enroll their children into
schools that are more inclusive, as the knowledge they obtain from “Tsangaya” (Islamic
education) alone cannot help the children attain the required skills needed to be functional in
present-day society or come out of that circle of poverty.
Meanwhile, it appears even the time that should be spent learning the Qur’an is used
to beg for alms and food. It used to be a common sight witnessing boys begging, but, more
recently, girls can be found clinging to passers-by and in moving traffic. These girls are known
as Almajira(s). Without underplaying the plight of the Almajiri boys, the inclusion of girls is
particularly worrisome, given the broader gender issues in the region and greater
vulnerability for girls when it comes to sexual exploitation. Irrespective of gender, Section
30 of the Child Rights Acts states: “a child shall not be used for the purpose of begging for
alms, guiding beggars, prostitution, domestic or sexual labour or for any unlawful or immoral
purpose.” (Adamu)
ILLITERACY
A high level of illiteracy among parents and children especially in Northern Nigeria
may affect the stability of their respective families. In Northern Nigeria, the majority of
illiterate families do not send their children to school. With little or no access to schooling,
children are forced purely by instinct to go into doing many menial jobs (begging or hawking)
at an early age to keep themselves busy and to make ends meet. In many illiterate and greedy
families, school-aged children are lured or even forced to miss school or even to drop out of
school in its entirety and involve themselves in the system of Almajiri that may be dangerous
to their health. It is very common to see parents in rural areas refusing to give their children
sound education with the belief that if there is unemployment, children should not be
educated, rather they should start to work to support the family income.