By Kolade Adeyemi, Kano
- Islamic clerics berated for criticising governor
- Governor inspects Tsangaya schools
Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Isa Pantami has supported Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje’s ban of street begging.
He faulted some Islamic scholars for condemning the ban.
Pantami said it was inappropriate to attack or challenge Ganduje’s stand on the ban considering the inherent dangers in the act.
The minister fielded questions from reporters yesterday after he presented a paper at the Pre-Convocation lecture of the Kano State Polytechnic.
He said: “It is not appropriate for my brothers, Islamic scholars, to challenge the governor. They should rather sit together and proffer solutions to remedy the situation.
“There is no doubt that taking those children back to school is the right thing to do; it is beneficial to the Almajiris, their parents and the society at large. The governor, as a leader, has the responsibility to see that his people live well.”
Pantami, who indicated his interest in being part of the discussion group, if any is constituted, to resolve the matter, said: ‘I want to be part of any such discussion, in a group form, if it is raised’.
“We all have children; my children are with me. I feed them myself. Feeding the children is the responsibility or their parents. If there are orphans, we know how our society is concerned and considerate to them and their condition.
“I was raised in my father’s home. I saw how orphans were also fed and taken care of by our parents.
“We know that begging is not a religious activity or obligation; it is just something of necessity, for somebody to say he doesn’t have anything to feed himself. As much as our governor is concerned, he will not come up with a policy that will harm or destroy the life of beggars. I am sure there is a plan in place to assist them.”
In his paper presentation at the lecture, Pantami praised the Ganduje administration for its interest in skills acquisition. He was particular about the just-completed skills acquisition centre named after Chairman of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote.
Ganduje yesterday inspected some Tsangaya schools in Kiyawa town (Bagwai council); Kanwa (Madobi council) and Bunkure (Bunkure council) in preparation for the ban.
“The visit is part of the take-off of our ban on begging. Begging is banned and will remain banned. We are telling these beggars to leave begging forever, and we are committed to see its implementation of this.
“Begging is poverty-driven, following lack of parental and societal care. We must take responsibility for our children.
“As we birth them, Allah places such responsibilities on our shoulders. Those kicking against our policy are anti-development and anti-people; or they lack proper understanding of the position of Islam on begging,” Ganduje said.
The governor added that arrangements have been concluded for Almajiri schools and their pupils to comply with the policy on free and compulsory education. “When we arrest these beggars, we take them to these facilities and take care of them; they are given education and fed.
“They will be taught in the spirit of Tsangaya integration. Apart from English and Mathematics, Arabic languages would also be taught to children so they would begin to understand the meaning of the Holy Qur’an they study under their Malams.
The governor said three strategies have been developed for the success of the Tsangaya integration system.
He said: “Those begging in the streets will be taken off and enrolled in the Tsangaya schools. They will get Qur’anic education, English Language, Mathematics and Arabic language so they can understand the Holy Qur’an.”
Read Also: IGP: Begging bandits not a security strategy
“The second strategy is that those under their guardians will be enrolled into primary schools and secondary school afterwards. The third strategy is that those with thousands of Almajiris would be integrated into the free and compulsory education system. It is also part of the reasons we employed about 8,000 teachers.
“The government will continue to provide the schools with foodstuff and logistics to cater for the children. We have started with some pilot Almajiri schools and we are improving on the facilities.
“For total compliance to the free and compulsory education, all out-of-school children must return to school. We employed over 8,000 teachers recently who would be sent to such schools. These children would also be trained in skills so they would become self-independent.”
Each facility can accommodate thousands of Almajiris; there are 12 of such facilities in the state. Each has hostels, cafeteria, toilets, staff quarters, among others.
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