Al•majiri [almajiri]
n. (plural Almajirai)

The migration of young boys (between the ages of 5 and 17) from their rural villages to some African cities to attend Qur’anic schools (Makarantun Allo).
“Almajiranci” is the Almajiri system of education.
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Ibrahim walked with a blue kettle in his hand, in the outskirt of Badariya settlement in Birnin-Kebbi, towards a cracked structure he called school and a home.

Some sheep and goat bleated lightly from within the foyer he was headed. At the corridors of the building embedded unwanted weed plants, nurtured by disgusting stream of gutter crossing the thick green weeds from the center. The complete area was stuck with sewage and rubbish, which were packed high at approximately 4 ft opposite the school premises.

The young Ibrahim, who doesn’t know his years, looks like a grownup – possibly above 15. He migrated from Charanchi, a local government area of Katsina State, in 2010 to pursue the most challenging education in his life. “I have been living here together with other Almajirai for more than three years now,” Ibrahim said. “This is my world.”

The Almajiranci school system is especially common in northern Nigeria and other parts of West African countries, such as Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali, Ghana, Senegal, and Niger Republic. The system is a primary and junior secondary school age, which recruits only boys of between 5 to 17 years mostly from rural families for Quranic education.

In pre-colonial Sokoto and Borno Caliphates, the schools used to be under the aegis of the state, and were revered because they were the citadel of learning for state’s elites and government officials.

I’ll explain how the intent of Almajiranci has changed today in the preceding paragraphs but first, let’s look at how the advent of the colonies changed the Almajiranci schools entirely...

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Suhaibu?

Very nice and informative piece. Government should make parent more responsible for the care of their children. Its wicked sending little kids away from home to get education without any plans for their welfare. There is no excuse for it.