Daud Olatunji
Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has described the growing Almajiri crisis as a national issue stemming from years of systemic neglect, calling for urgent action to address what he described as “a volcano waiting to erupt.”
He made this assertion on Thursday while receiving a delegation from the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children’s Education at his office in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
Abiodun lamented the rising number of out-of-school children in Nigeria, cautioning that their plight poses a serious threat not only to the northern region but to the entire country’s future.
He confirmed that Ogun State ranks the highest in the South West for out-of-school children, a troubling reality he linked to the state’s significant student population, driven by migration and economic opportunities.
Addressing the commission members, Abiodun stressed the need for a concerted national effort to address the issue before it spirals out of control.
“The issue of Almajiri is a national challenge. It is not a challenge for a section of this country, but a national challenge,” the governor declared.
“The National Security Adviser and I sat down to discuss this issue, and we deliberated on what actionable steps can be taken that are implementable, breaking them down into immediate, medium, and long-term sustainable steps to ensure that we collectively deal with the issue, which I described as a volcanic eruption that we can’t see now, that appears dormant but is very viable.”
Abiodun highlighted the vulnerability of the Almajiri children, emphasizing that their lack of education and societal neglect makes them easy targets for manipulation by criminal elements.
He pointed to the visible role these children played during the recent protests, which saw many manipulated into participating despite their lack of understanding of the issues at hand.
“The last time we had protests, we saw an unusually high number of protesters, significantly from the north.
When you look at those protesters, they were Almajiri children. It was obvious that they didn’t have a clue about what they were doing. Some of them were carrying Russian flags, which means they didn’t understand what that means.
“ They were tools in the hands of manipulators, willing and ready tools in the hands of manipulators who probably gave them a meal or something meager, and they were ready to go for it,” he explained.
The governor expressed his belief that addressing the Almajiri issue could become one of President Bola Tinubu’s defining legacies.
“This is a very sad development in the history of this nation, and this is a result of years of neglect of the situation. My position is that we can successfully tackle it.
“This will be one of President Bola Tinubu’s best legacies. It will be an enduring legacy, and I know that the President, under his Renewed Hope vision, is very passionate about ensuring that he reduces the number of Almajiri and out-of-school children to an absolute minimum.”
Abiodun further assured the commission of his administration’s commitment to addressing the issue.
“As the Chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum, he vowed to engage his colleagues in the southern states to collaborate on solutions.
Statistics, however, show that Ogun State is grappling with a significant number of out-of-school children across various educational levels.
The state has a primary school out-of-school rate of 10.3%, which surpasses the South West region’s average of 6.2%.
“In junior secondary school, the state’s rate stands at 12.1%, compared to the regional average of 8.5%, while senior secondary school records a 20.9% out-of-school rate, slightly above the regional average of 19.2%.
Abiodun attributed these figures to the state’s large population and the influx of migrants seeking economic opportunities.
“When you look at the number of students we have in Ogun State compared to a state like Ekiti, you can begin to understand why ours is high because we have by far more students than some of these states combined,” he explained.
However, he emphasized that this was not an excuse, acknowledging that more must be done to reduce the out-of-school population.
In response to the growing concern, the governor announced that his administration would provide office space and a liaison officer to work with the commission in addressing the issue.
Earlier in the meeting, Hon. Almustapha Rabah, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Alternative Education, highlighted the gravity of Nigeria’s out-of-school crisis, noting that the country ranks third globally, behind Pakistan and India. Rabah called for a united front in tackling the issue.
Dr. Muhammad Idris, Executive Secretary of the commission, revealed that Nigeria is home to around 30 million Almajiri children, many of whom are vulnerable to exploitation by criminal groups, including bandits and terrorist organizations.
He appealed to southern governors to join the effort, warning that no part of the country is safe when the future of its children remains uncertain.
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