“Out of the 251 million Almajiris worldwide, 163 million are from Africa with Nigeria accounting for over 30 million. It is estimated that about 81 percent of almajiris in Nigeria are domiciled in the northern states where they have become part of the landscape. Tons of newspaper pages and countless hours of TV and radio airtime have been burnt in pursuit of a solution to the menace.
So far, the almajiri problem has defied all solutions, no thanks to the hypocrisy of the ruling elite who send their own children to some of the best educational institutions at home and abroad while abandoning the children of the poor to hang on to religious superstitions and non-existent injunctions.
There was cause for cheer the other day when a state governor decided to look in the mirror, metaphorically speaking, and in so doing demonstrated the fact that the ruling elite are not irredeemable after all. Governor Abdullahi Sule put political and regional sentiments aside and…