NGOs partner Hisbah on almajiri labour exploitation in Kano

From Mustapha Adamu, Kano

The Justice Development and Peace/CARITAS Advocate (JDPCA) and Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED), in collaboration with the Kano State Hisbah board, have described labour exploitation of almajirai as a menace that could be confronted with a view to making them responsible members of the society.

Speaking to newsmen at a stakeholders forum in Kano, yesterday, the spokesman of the two non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Mr. Mark Asu-Obi, said the issue of exploitation of almajirai in the society has become a recurring decimal, stressing that the task of injecting sanity in the way and manner children in the society should be treated are made to be ordinarily irrelevant.

According to him, the two NGOs saw the need to commission researchers to investigate the labour exploitation of almajirai by the society with a view to deescalate insecurity in Kano State.

He said “We deem it fit to collaborate with you, in our effort to achieve this all-important objective. Your role in the dissemination of information and opinion-moulding in the society cannot be over emphasised.”

He further revealed that society has a long history of incessant religious and political violence with serial records pointing to the role of unemployed and illiterate youth groups in violence and cross border insurgency.

He stressed that the children must not be exposed as to be conscripted into antisocial activities, by persons of dubious interests.

He commended the state government for its tireless effort to rehabilitate the almajiri, through various policies aimed at developing and empowering them to be relevant in the society.

He expressed the hope that, with a good policy on the eradication of child labour and abuse adopted in purposefully pursued by all stakeholders in Kano will improve the social prospect for the children, in addition to providing quality human resources for the nation’s economy.