By Okey Ikechukwu Our people say that the slave you see splitting firewood in the morning in his master’s compound when other children are leaving home to learn one trade or the other is not necessarily unwilling to head out with other children to learn a trade. The salve is also not necessarily less intelligent than the children in the plethora of trade and skill centers in the community. It is just that his circumstances have confined him to a tasks that will never make him a significant democratic fact in his environment. He is Cannon Fodder: Easily replaceable and often no great loss at all if he suddenly drops dead. Now, picture a child standing up before a large audience to recite the entire Qur’an. That same child could have used the same intellectual capacity to study and pass almost any other subject in our conventional schools. But his 100% score in the Arabic rendition of the Islamic scripture does not give him any skill and knowledge in his economic environment. He therefore begs, in order to ensure materially from one day to the next, notwithstanding his demonstrated brilliance. He cannot engage in the local economy in any way whatsoever. He cannot compete in any way whatsoever. He has ‘graduated’ from his school, but only as an economic burden to society. He has no goods he can offer to earn income. And that is why others must provide for him, why he must go out and beg for alms, or get involved in petty thievery and occasional thuggery if recruited for the purpose. He best among them take to begging, and keep begging. But, let us backtrack to an event that took place in Abuja some two weeks ago. around you. There were about twenty-one former Almajiri and street children in a hall in Peniel Apartment. They had learned to build computers and drones. All it took was an intensive six-month program that combined daily practical training, holistic welfare support, and entrepreneurship mentorship. These can, henceforth, be the new face of Almajiri in Nigeria. Which means, replicating what made this possible on a much larger scale. Months before the “graduation” programme of last week, many of the trainees in that hall had never seen, nor used, a computer. Most of them also could not communicate in English at all. Fast forward to a life-changing encounter with Tim Akana and his truckload of good ideas six months ago, they can now assemble drones, repair laptop and desktop computer, fix troubled mobile phones and power banks, as well as electric fans, microwave ovens and other electronic devices. All it took was an intensive practical training that combined technical education with entrepreneurship training, mentorship and character development. Unlike many programmes that end with theoretical and paper certificates, this one equipped graduates with professional work tools and start-up support to make them income earners immediately. As part of the package, a business directory was launched, to connect households and businesses with the graduates for computer and electronics repair services. This is all thanks to the Almajiri-to-Tech-Foundation, founded by Tim Akano, in partnership with New Horizons Nigeria. They took vulnerable youths off the streets of Abuja and turned them into effective tech entrepreneurs. The skills these hitherto troubled youths have now acquired include Hardware Building, that is the assembling of custom desktop computers, battery inverters, robots, and drones from scratch. They also carry out electronics repair jobs, in terms of fixing laptops, mobile phones, power banks, electric fans, washing machines, and microwave ovens. They have all learnt basic English and numeracy. They can communicate and negotiate with customers. This was all carried out under a welfare support system that provided daily meals, uniforms, learning materials, and transportation support. The holistic mentorship encapsulated in the programme also offered guidance from integrated religious mentors, psychologists, and imams to reorient mindset and character. And it was all being rounded up two weeks ago via a Business Launch that would equip top Amajiri graduates with professional toolkits and enterprise backing, via a dedicated workshop in Wuse II, Abuja, to start earning immediately. Akano and New Horizons have joined forces to also address the second, and even bigger, problem of Almajiri children in Nigeria. And that is the fact that they often lack any true moral compass, notwithstanding the fact that they could recite one of the world’s strongest sources of moral precepts, the Qur’an. Because it is in Arabic, and they can only recite it in Arabic, the revered scripture does not give them any real guidance, thus leaving them to the machinations of unscrupulous individuals in society. This second dilemma of the Almajiri child has also been addressed by the Almajiri-to-Tech initiative.
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