Memo to anti-Almajirci activists

…also published in Daily Trust

Having written articles on different occasions on Almajirci phenomenon in northern Nigeria, and following my article titled “Hypocrisy over Almajirci” (Daily Trust, Friday, March 31, 2017.), I resolved not to write on the issue again having been convinced that elite hypocrisy and tacit resistance by many influential Almajirci apologists in the region are actually what undermine the efforts to end it. 

However, seeing a growing interest among many individuals and groups in anti-Almajirci activism, I felt prompted to address this memo to them hopefully to help steer their activism towards success.

Before going into its contents, it’s pertinent to present a summarized description of the situation quoting from the same article referred above where I maintain that “…though there has always been apparent unanimity among Islamic scholars, experts, traditional institutions and political leaders, on the urgent need to tackle Almajirci phenomenon in our societies, the persistent failure to make headway remains due to the reluctance of a significant number of individuals among the abovementioned parties to implement the appropriate measures agreed upon.

Also, though these parties represent the elite in the society, yet many of them betray reluctance to pursue, implement or push for the implementation of anti-Almajirci measures under various pretexts. Apparently, some of them feel lacking in the moral high ground to do so, because they are either descendants of families with historical roots in Almajirci, or they were themselves Almajirai before some turn of events changed their destiny. Hence, in either case, they probably think that being committed to tackling it is tantamount to questioning the validity and the wisdom behind their forefathers’ legacy, or (think) they would simply expose themselves to ridicule, having been through it in the past. 

Yet, the most ridiculous pretext is this regard is the superstitious belief held by many, if not most, of ‘yan boko elite who are lacking in the correct teachings of Islamic religion that such Alarammomi possess some special spiritual qualities and ability to intercede with Allah on behalf of their clients. It’s therefore quite hard to find a single individual among such ‘yan boko who doesn’t keep a number of such Alarammomi as his personal so-called prayer warriors who he believes are able to manipulate circumstances in his favour, hence he shares with them not only his personal secrets but also many sensitive and confidential pieces of official information. This explains why, even in the position of power, such ‘yan boko are often reluctant to implement anti-Almajrici measures lest they incur the wrath of such Alarammomi who they believe can ruin their lives.”

Now, obviously, for the activism of anti-Almajirci activists to survive and overcome this frustrating situation, the activists must be too sincere to be influenced by such underlying hypocritical tendency. They mustn’t also allow themselves to be unduly distracted by an unnecessary obsession with the academic theories peddled about Almajirci. After all, most of such theories have lost relevance when it comes to tackling it in practice. For instance, an unnecessary preoccupation with theories about the historical context of the evolvement of Almajirci tradition simply distracts attention away from focusing on addressing the underlying challenges behind the persistent failure to end it in the region.

A critical look into to the situation would certainly expose how tacit resistance by influential apologists of Almajirci particularly among mystical and traditional clerics, and elite hypocrisy frustrate the efforts to tackle the phenomenon in region. After all, a particular influential mystical cleric whose name instantly comes to mind whenever this issue is raised, is particularly notorious in this regard.

Besides, having been widely, albeit wrongly, linked to Islam, Almajirci also owes its persistence to the misconception that it’s encouraged or at least tolerated by Islam. The activists should therefore also coordinate with reputable Islamic scholars already preaching against it to debunk this misconception.  

This strategy, if sustained, will steadily but surely neutralize the discreet but strong resistance perpetrated by these powerful elements in the society while the public gets wiser and inspired enough to do more towards tackling the phenomenon until it’s eliminated.

By the way, for the sake of clarity, the Almajirci I address herein is what generally obtains nowadays, to the exclusion of any other form of Almajirci said to have prevailed in the past. In other words, the scenario of the Almajirci I address herein is summarized in the same article of mine referred above where I stated that it’s “….whereby a child is effectively abandoned by his own parents, to an Alaramma too poor to provide the child with his basic needs e.g. food, clothing, shelter, love, care, education, moral and professional training, etc. under the pretext of putting him through the process of acquiring expertise in Qur’anic reading and memorization. The helpless child starts off his journey in Almajirci as Qolo to grow into Titibiri then Gardi, Goni and finally Gangaran having acquired the ability to read and memorize the bare Qur’anic texts without knowing or bothering to know its meanings and intendments. In fact, in most cases, he reads it largely incorrectly also, for he wasn’t introduced to the correct way of reading it all along. He also grows up ignorant of the basic teachings of Islamic religion, and having assumed to have attained ‘mastery’ in the Qur’an while people refer to him as Alaramma, he feels too important to learn even the basics of Islamic religion let alone other pieces of knowledge, of course. Furthermore, with no specific skill to pursue any legitimate livelihood, he claims spiritual ability to manipulate Qur’anic verses to influence things and events, whereas in reality he is only providing sorcery- based services to his gullible clients.”