Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State has said he won’t expel almajiris from the State. Matawalle said he would welcome almajiris from other States with open arms.

He disclosed that the decision was aimed at giving the children a sense of belonging and reduce the stigmatisation meted on the Almajiri Islamic teaching and learning in Nigeria.

The governor’s position was contained in a statement signed by his spokesperson, Yusuf Idris, issued yesterday.

Some governors from the North have expelled street children seeking Islamic knowledge popularly known as almajiris since the outbreak of Coronavirus in Nigeria.

However, Matawalle said: “My administration will not repatriate any almajiri from the state, all those repatriated from other states can come to Zamfara and will be accommodated.”

On why he cancelled the repatriation of almajiris in his state, the governor explained that the decision was taken to give the children “a sense of belonging and reduce the stigmatisation meted on the Almajiri Islamic teaching and learning in the country”.

He also disbanded the committee he earlier setup for the repatriation of almajiris from the state.
The governor explained that his decision followed “a careful study of almajiri system in the state which only needs to be integrated into western education for the purpose of acquiring qualitative education in both western and Islamic knowledge”.