Nasarawa state governor, Abdullahi Sule has tasked northern leaders on the menace of Almajiris, the millions of hungry children roaming the states in the region and across the country.
The governor said the leaders form the region should find a way to tackle the problem rather than looking for external solutions.
Governor Sule spoke during the flag-off ceremony of the regional conference on population dynamics, security, climate change, out-of-school children/Almajiri, and vulnerable children in Nigeria.
He said as the Chairman of the North Central Governors Forum he has been using his position to canvass for the internal solutions to the almajiri menace.
He warned of the dangers of the almajiri system on the country if not quickly tackled, urging religious, political and traditional leaders in the region to stop passing the buck of how to end the problem.
Sule: “The Almajiri problem is indeed a huge problem for us. I think, just as I told my colleagues in Kaduna during our last meeting of the Northern governors, I said we should stop complaining. It is time for us to take the bull by the horns and see how we can resolve the problem by ourselves.
‘’Why should Northern Nigeria continue to hold the entire nation ransom when we know that it is our own problem and we have to go out there and find a way to solve it.”
According to statistics, more than 13 million almajiri are roaming the streets across the country, as the number is growing everyday, analyst say, noting that the Islamic religious system in the northern part of the country has worsened the problem over the year.
