Northern Governors under the umbrella of the Northern Governors Forum have insisted that the Almajiri system has to be phased out in order to combat the spread of coronavirus in the region.
This position was stated on Tuesday during a meeting of Northern Governors to decide on a course of action to tackle the spread of the virus.
17 governors participated in the meeting which was conducted via teleconferencing and presided over by the Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong.
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Director of Press and Public Affairs, to Simon Lalong, Macham Makut, released a statement about the major points discussed.
He said the governors noted the presence of Coronavirus test centres but advocated for more. They also advocated for border closures by the states in the region until the pandemic was over.
They thereafter decided to unanimously ban the Almajiri system in the respective states saying the system allowed poverty, illiteracy, insecurity and social order to thrive in the region.
Further excerpts from the statement read:
“On border control and lockdown measures, the governors retained their earlier decision for each state to decide on the measure to adopt but reaffirmed the need for border closure to stop the inter-state spread of the disease in the region.
“The governors also discussed the risk that Almajiri children are exposed to due to the virus and they unanimously decided to ban the Almajiri system and evacuate the children to their parents or states of origin.
“They vowed never to allow the system to persist any longer because of the social challenges associated with it including the perpetuation of poverty, illiteracy, insecurity and social disorder.”
The governors also urged the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Muhammed Sabo Nanono to provide coronavirus incentives to farmers across the country.