Letter from an Almajiri

By Abdu Abdullahi

Sir: Let me use this golden opportunity to invite you to the crisis world of Almajiri. As I write this, I am heavily depressed by anger. It is, of course, the product of hunger. I am also exposed to infectious diseases. I am threatened by abject poverty. Like a lunatic, I move about half naked, parading my ragged clothes, bushy hair and decaying teeth. Walking barefooted with cracked feet, I set for another leg of struggling for survival.

Whenever I look around, I can’t see love and care. Even during day time, the only thing I could see is darkness. I am vehemently denied living with hopes and dreams. I am left alone in this world. My life seems to be worth nothing but I know and of course you know that I am like every human being. The main trouble with me is that I have been made to live with degradation by my parents, government and the society at large. I am therefore pleading with you to let me pass for a human being. Even Karl Marx once protested on my behalf.  According to him, ‘if a human being is formed by his/her circumstances, then his/her circumstances must be made human.’

My terrible and deplorable condition is rapidly falling apart. I am thus not asking too much from the society. I am not requesting the government to give me a political appointment to serve my personal interest. I am not begging my parents to provide me luxury of life because I know they are not financially buoyant. I am not agitating that I must be incorporated into the class of the nobles. That is a typical no-go area for my aspirations. All I am clamoring for is to live in dignity like every average Nigerian child lives. Remember that this is the period of my formative years. If you betray my hope now it will definitely affect my future. Would you like to be remembered among those who will be responsible for my pains and agony?

I am putting this before you because I am not the architect of my sordid condition. You are a living witness that I have not designed this pathetic situation for myself. Don’t put the blames on Allah. You are guilty and you will continue to be guilty until you change my life from Almajiri to something much better.

I need your support, care, guidance and absolute compassion to move forward.

You may wish to continue remembering me with disdain. If you like, you may consider me as the most backward human species on this earth and beyond. You can despise me in the worst manner you like. All I know is that I have no evil design against my nation. I have not engaged myself in criminal activities. I have not threatened the sovereignty of Nigeria. I shall never let my country down. I will continue to be loyal to the authorities even though they cannot protect and preserve my integrity. I am always at the risk of losing a sense of direction. I am always provided with a very little chance of survival.

I am Almajiri by circumstance and not by birth. I will continue to beg not because it is the best life for me but because the society, the government and my parents want to see me living under this deplorable condition. Even in the country’s budget, my life is never captured to uplift me to the next level of a new lease of life. I am entitled to my own share of the national cake. But because I am Almajiri, I am considered as a useless creature that is not fit for the sharing of the national cake. This is a social crime and onslaught against my social being!

My case is genuine. My parents, government and the society should not allow my dreams, hopes, yearnings and aspirations to disintegrate and be in vain.

• Abdu Abdullahi, Ringim, Jigawa State.