THE ALMAJIRI CRISIS IN NORTHERN NIGERIA: A CRY FOR OUR CHILDREN BY NIGERIAN MOTHERS
THE ALMAJIRI CRISIS IN NORTHERN NIGERIA A CRY FOR OUR CHILDREN BY NIGERIAN MOTHERS AlMajiri Children. Photo Courtesy Newsdiary Online.com Where is our shame? Where is our collective responsibility? Allah Ya Isa! In the last month, social media has been awash with multiple scenes, most from Northern Nigeria, of mile-long queues of hungry young children—Almajirai or Almajiri children as they are now referred to; bowls in hand, waiting for food. These images stand in stark contrast with recent images that have also been circulating for the last year in the same region; of displays of opulent lifestyles and exhibition of immeasurable wealth. These contrasts of extreme wealth and extreme poverty pervade our everyday reality across Nigeria. However, it is haunting when the displays of such opulence are in a region that is in the throes of an interminable insurgency; an ongoing humanitarian crisis, the crux of which is some of the worst development indices ...
