At Least Three of Every Six Boys Involved in the Almajiri System of Northern Nigeria Die in the Child Begging Culture

Abstract

Background: Children involved in the Almajiri system of training are boys, exposed to harsh conditions and subjected to begging to fend for themselves, leaving them susceptible to violence, hunger, starvation, infections, child predators, and being used as elements of violence. This decreases their chances of surviving till adulthood as a lot die even before they reach age 16.

Objectives: The main objective of this research, which was carried out in 2018, was to quantitatively determine the survival rate of the children who were enrolled in the Almajiri program and evaluate the extent of its negative impact on the child survival rate in Nigeria.

Methodology: The research design was a cross-sectional study of a population selected through a combined two separate purposive sampling method, which involves door-to-door primary data collection through a questionnaire. 137 villages across 2 Northern states of Nigeria, which are major areas of the sources of boys born into the Almajiri system, were selected for this research and the two northern states were Kaduna and Kano states. Participants were mothers of one boy at least and of the Hausa or Fulani tribes ranging from 18 to 64 years of age. Working-class mothers of the same description in the capital city of Kano state of Northern Nigeria were also randomly selected.

Result: A total number of 16,857 mothers were interviewed, out of which 8422 were desired mothers (50%). From these desired mothers came about 102,349 children (12 children/mother), out of which 26011 died before they were 5 years old (25%). The boys who finally survived and enrolled in the Almajiri system of training were 25,892 (25% of all live births). Out of these surviving boys, 12,975 died (50%); 8639 were lost and their whereabouts not known (33%); 4278 survived and are still alive (16.5%).

Conclusion: This has led to the conclusion that for every 6 boys sent away to engage in the Almajiri system of seeking knowledge in Northern Nigeria, 3 die, 1 stays alive and the other 2 are lost, their whereabouts not known. This is at least 50% of the child mortality of boys born into the Almajiri system of Northern Nigeria.