Kano State governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has disclosed that most of the almajiri children who roam the streets in the Northern part of the country are not Nigerians.
This disclosure was made by Ganduje while speaking at a retreat organised by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) in Kano, on Monday.
Ganduje said a survey conducted showed that most of the almajiri children are from Niger Republic, Chad and Cameroon.
He said free and compulsory primary and secondary school education, as well as the transformation of the almajiri education system, were some of his major priorities in the education sector.
Themed: “Enhancing Basic Education in Nigeria towards a Robust Institutional Strengthening and Effective Stakeholder Engagement”, the governor said the retreat was “very important”, especially at this time that the country is gradually coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic that has affected the education sector.
In April, as part of efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19, governors across northern states agreed to ban the almajiri system and evacuate the affected children to their parents or states of origin.
Some of the northern states, including Kaduna, Nasarawa and Kano, sent the almajiri children back to their home states earlier in the year.
