Blame state government for Almajiris — Buhari

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It is not proper to blame the Federal Government for the menace of the Almajiri system of education as the responsibility is that of state governments, President Muhammadu Buhari says.

The president spoke when he received members of the Progressives in Academics at the State House, Abuja, on Tuesday.

Almajiri system of education is a form of Qur’anic learning associated with begging on economic and religious grounds peculiar to some northern states.

The Presidency on June 21 dismissed reports that the Federal Government had concluded arrangements to ban the system of education.


Malam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, in a statement in Abuja, had said that the proscription of the Almajiri system had remained an objective of the Buhari administration.

Buhari told the delegation that it was the constitutional responsibility of the state governments to transform Almajiri system of education.

According to him, it is wrong to blame the Federal Government for the way and manner the system is currently being managed.

“The problem of education, I hope when you are going to produce your paper you should be referring to the constitution – What the Centre (Federal Government) is supposed to do; what the state is supposed to do and what the local governments are supposed to do.

“And that again, you reflect on the basis for revenue allocations from the centre which is being published by the Nigerian press every quarter – the amount of money earned and how it is divided by the three tiers of government.

“The people are deliberately criticising the government – when I say the government of course I mean the Federal Government, for the Almajiris. But that is the responsibility of the state governments, which means the state governments are not doing their job,’’ he said.