Almajiri Culture: Overcoming A National Scourge.

The Integrative Educational Initiative: Originally Written by an Esan Man, Adopted by an Ezon President, but Abandoned by a Hausa/Fulani President.

TOWARDS BRIDGING THE EDUCATIONAL GAP
-January 02, 2012

That educational policy selfishly designed to frustrate poor southern families who couldn't afford school fees in the 70s has succeeded in creating generations of uneducated, easily manipulated religious extremists in the North – a cesspool for Boko Haram adherents and a recruitment reservoir for those who want to impose a state religion on the rest of us.

What is required in the process is a coherent national policy at the elementary and secondary school levels, with the full support of the federal government, similar to what Action Groups and the Unity Party of Nigeria did in the Old Western Region and Bendel State. It was the same policy adopted in Kano State by the late Abubakar Rimi in the Second Republic – a grass-root popular educational initiative that won his administration a UNESCO Award.

Boko Haram is chickens coming home to roost. A child growing up should have a home, a government that cares, and the opportunity to make a choice about what to make of every religious doctrine contrary to the arrested development phenomenon within the Muslim faith in the northern part of the country.

There are Muslims within the Yoruba race; most of them are well educated, while others are reasonably trained. The same is true of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait, Indonesia, and Iran, just to name a few countries. Why must Northern Nigeria be an exception? It's about the opportunity gap and the leadership philosophy, specifically, on the educational agenda of those trusted with government power and responsibilities in the northern region.

No matter the level of our understanding of the political, educational, and religious situation in the north, a compulsory and free education for all children of school-going age from Elementary School to Grammar School level is the best way to go - it will go a long way in shaping the future of these abandoned children and how they embrace religious doctrine and distorted teaching.

THE INTEGRATIVE MODEL

Education is a right, and it is the best investment in the life of a child. Religion is a choice and should be treated that way. In the northern region, the majority of the children have grown up to believe that religion, and not education, is a fundamental right; the way, the truth, and the only avenue to emancipation or salvation.

A child capable of imbibing and reciting entire Quranic verses verbatim is capable of solving Quadratic Equations in a Mathematics class if he or she has the opportunity to take the class. No matter how you look at it, it’s all about effort and the leadership that you have and what their views are on education, equal rights, and egalitarianism.

Also, the Quran does not forbid integration or teaching of English Language, Arithmetic, Social Studies, and Sciences simultaneously with Islamic studies. Christian Missionaries in the Eastern Region and the Western Region - before and after our independence - perfected the integration approach successfully. It encompasses the Bible on the right hand, then English, Mathematics, History, Civic, Agriculture and Social Sciences on the left hand. You can't beat that. The same can be replicated in the Northern region concerning religious studies side by side with western or popular education.

The truth is you cannot force these children and their parents to send their wards to popular schools, but you can inculcate popular subjects or courses into their curriculum at the Islamic Learning Centers. In that case, the government would have to negotiate the modalities with the Imams and Sheiks who are managing those institutions. This paper is not by any means, arguing for the elimination of Islamic Schools. Rather, the government should work hand in hand with the proprietors of the Islamic Schools; upgrade the physical facilities and inculcate regular subjects or courses into their curriculum by bringing in additional teachers.

It is not too late to give it a try in the North and rescue these children from the stranglehold of feudal teaching that turned innocent souls into a carrier of IED and enemies of civilization. It's about the opportunity gap - accessibility.

We must not give up on educating these children because the informed citizenry is the most potent and decisive weapon against false beliefs and extorted indoctrination. No one would buy into the disproved belief in the North that western education is forbidden (reputed of Dr. Jubrin Aminu and the Boko Haram sect) if regular education was part of his or her adolescence.

ECONOMIC ARGUMENTS

There must be a distinction to be made between religious purity and survival instinct through purposeful engagement in the national economy. God and Allah help those who help themselves. That is a fact and not just a saying. Our Islamic scholars, teachers, and leaders should be willing to embrace changes and accept the fact that religious freedom is most ennobling when combined with economic and social emancipation.

For instance, Senator Sani Yerima, representing Zamfara West Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Nigeria, was the one who escalated the application of the Sharia Law in the Nigerian legal system, when he was the Governor of Zamfara State for eight years. While the Senator, with unrestrained shrewdness and bravado, devoted so much time and energy to amplifying religious indoctrination in his domain, regular or western education was left at the mercy of Imams and Sheikhs.

Therefore, the first step in bridging the educational gap between the Northern region and Southern region of Nigeria is to rein in on most of the State Governors and influential political leaders from the Northern region like Professor Jubrin Aminu to jettison their age-old feudal philosophy that perpetuates caste system.

The current helplessness of the less privileged in the North is disgraceful and cannot be sustained for too long. Therefore, government intervention academically at the very early stage in the lives of the affected children should be encouraged. It will go a long way in shaping their perception and understanding of religion, its social and moral impacts, and the extent of its limitations in the context of economics – the creation, distribution, and consumption of wealth.

Mr. Alex Ehi Aidaghese,
Sugar Land, Texas, January 02, 2012

A PRELUDE TO THE INTEGRATIVE MODEL.

The Integrative Model, as excerpted in this essay is not a complete document. It is a summary of one of the weekly speeches (papers) I delivered in my "Oral Communication: Business and Organizational" class in 2002 while completing my graduate studies at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. The theme of the speech was how to overcome the economic ills and social deprivations underlying the application of Affirmative Action admission policy at most American Universities - a policy framework that is consistent with the fundamentals of the Nigerian Federal Character and Quota System.

In my speech, I supported both policies to the chagrin of my predominantly white audience, in spite of the fact that I was once a victim of the Quota admission policy in Nigeria. I argued that we should not eliminate the policies, repugnant as they seemingly are in the opinion of the victims, without first, eliminating, or at least, reducing the social inequalities and circumstances of birth that place some candidates at a position where they suffer entrenched economic, social, and academic competitive disadvantage over some other candidates.

In hindsight, in the US, you could make the argument about the inherent social inequality (slavery and second-class status) to justify Affirmative Action admission policy, but in Nigeria, that is a complicated narrative to push. I hold this view believing that the educational and socio-economic gaps that led to the creation of the Federal Character and Quota System in Nigeria are self-inflicted - leadership crisis. The fact being, in Nigeria, we never had the experience of the educationally advanced south colonizing or enslaving the educationally disadvantaged north the way White men oppressed and dehumanized black folks for centuries of slavery in the US.

Anyway, intent on avoiding washing my country's dirty linen at a public forum, I deliberately ignored that distinguishing aspect between the American Affirmative Action and the Nigerian Quota Systems during my presentation and Q & A. Following the suggestions of the Assistant Professor who took the class, I expanded the Integrative Model to about Five thousand words, with details on the funding process and implementation mechanisms.

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