Oluremi Tinubu. Photo: State House
The First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, on Thursday sought Saudi Arabia to partner with Nigeria in overhauling the education of Almajiri and out-of-school children.
Tinubu warned that failure to formally educate both population posed a direct threat to the country’s security.
The First Lady made the appeal when she received the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Yousef Mohammed Al-Balawi, at the State House, Abuja, on Thursday.
Senior Special Assistant on Media to the First Lady, Busola Kukoyi, revealed details of the engagement in a statement she signed Thursday titled ‘First Lady of Nigeria Seeks Saudi Arabia’s Assistance with Out-of-School Children.’
According to Kukoyi, the First Lady said the proposed collaboration would combine Islamic Arabic teachings with formal Western education, a model she described as appropriate for the Almajiri system, which is rooted in Quranic instruction but largely disconnected from formal schooling and vocational pathways.
She stated, “I work with women and vulnerable children in society. My heart goes out to the Almajiri children up North. I believe they need better care.
“Most of the insecurity challenges in the nation, if those particular group of children are not taken care of, I don’t know what might happen.
“I believe we can still start to give them formal education. If we are able to do that, the future of Nigeria will be well secured.”
Mrs Tinubu expressed confidence in Saudi Arabia as a partner for the initiative, noting the two countries’ long-standing bilateral ties rooted in shared religious and cultural bonds.
She said a strategic partnership between Nigeria and the Kingdom on Almajiri education would help integrate Islamic teachings with formal Western education in a manner that protects both the identity and the future of the affected children.
Ambassador Al-Balawi, who said he had spent five months in Nigeria and expressed satisfaction with the reception he had received from government officials, described the two countries as sharing deep historical, religious and cultural ties and expressed optimism about strengthening economic cooperation.
“Our countries have a strong relationship. Our nations share a lot of things, religion, culture, and the potential to improve our relationship and get it back in shape.
“Our nations have strong common ambitions to improve our economies,” he said.
He noted that his meetings with members of the Federal Executive Council during his posting would ultimately reflect positively on the growth of both nations.
The Ambassador was accompanied by the Chief of Staff at the Saudi Embassy, Mohammed Bukar.
The Almajiri system, rooted in centuries of Islamic scholarship in Northern Nigeria, involves children, many as young as four or five, being sent by their families to live and study under Islamic teachers known as mallams, often far from home.
In its original form, the system was a structured pathway to religious learning, with communities collectively responsible for feeding and housing the students.
Over decades, however, the support structure collapsed, leaving millions of children as itinerant beggars with little access to formal education or healthcare.
Estimates of the Almajiri population in Nigeria range from eight to thirteen million, making it one of the largest concentrations of out-of-school children in the world.
The out-of-school population has been linked to a recruitment pipeline of young men into Boko Haram, bandit networks and other armed groups.
