Atiku, X user clash over Almajiri crisis, street begging

Presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has clashed with an X user, Oluwa Bunmi, over the persistent Almajiri crisis and the continued presence of children involved in street begging in northern Nigeria.

The exchange followed a post by Bunmi on Friday in which the X user questioned Atiku’s record on the issue, particularly during his eight-year tenure as Vice President of Nigeria between 1999 and 2007.

Bunmi tagged Atiku in a post featuring children carrying begging bowls and asked whether the former vice president had ever taken steps to address the situation.

“Have you ever addressed this, sir? You were VP for 8 years, these innocent children are in your region and you couldn’t do anything to stop this calamity,” Bunmi wrote.

Responding, Atiku acknowledged the seriousness of the problem but defended his record on education and interventions for vulnerable children, pointing to initiatives associated with the American University of Nigeria (AUN) in Yola, Adamawa State.

“I understand your concern, @Oluwabunmi63697. The sight of children begging on our streets should trouble every Nigerian,” Atiku said.

The former vice president explained that he established AUN in Yola as part of his effort to contribute to education and development in the North-East.

According to Atiku, the decision to locate the institution in Yola was deliberate because he wanted to expand access to quality education in a region he believed required greater investment.

“If profit had been my primary motivation, I could easily have located the university in Abuja or Lagos, where the commercial advantages would have been greater,” he said.

“I chose Yola because I wanted to invest in my people, create opportunities, and bring world-class education closer to a region that had long needed greater access and development.”

Atiku also rejected suggestions that AUN was established as a personal or family asset.

He said he had signed a deed of gift transferring ownership of the institution to the community.

“And as I have publicly stated before, this university is not my personal property or that of my family,” he said.

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“I have already signed a deed of gift transferring it to the community. AUN belongs to the community it was established to serve.”

Atiku further cited AUN’s Feed and Read programme, which he said was created to provide vulnerable Almajiri children with food while helping them acquire basic literacy and numeracy skills.

“Beyond its classrooms, AUN created the Feed and Read programme, providing vulnerable Almajiri children with daily meals while teaching them literacy and numeracy,” he said.

The programme has been documented by AUN as an initiative aimed at supporting children who are outside the formal education system.

The university has previously reported graduating cohorts of children from the programme, with the initiative designed to provide basic education and help beneficiaries transition into formal schooling.

Atiku also highlighted AUN’s Technology-Enhanced Learning for All (TELA) initiative, saying it provided educational support to more than 20,000 internally displaced children through educational radio programmes.

The programme was developed to reach children affected by displacement and insecurity, particularly those who had been unable to access conventional classrooms.

Atiku said AUN’s interventions were part of his broader belief that education should be used to create opportunities for children facing difficult circumstances.

He also referred to the university’s response to the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction, saying AUN awarded scholarships to some of the young women who escaped captivity.

“Following the Chibok tragedy in 2014, seven years after I left office, AUN awarded scholarships to young women who had escaped Boko Haram, giving them an opportunity to rebuild their lives through education,” Atiku said.

The former vice president stressed that his commitment to education extended beyond his time in public office.

“My conviction remains simple: every child belongs in a classroom, not on the street with a begging bowl,” he said.

“Whether in government or outside it, I have always sought to turn that conviction into practical action.”

The exchange has renewed public attention on the Almajiri system, a traditional Islamic education arrangement in northern Nigeria under which children may leave their homes to study Islamic teachings under Mallams.

The Almajiri system itself is not synonymous with street begging. However, concerns have persisted over the welfare and educational conditions of some children enrolled in the system, particularly those who lack adequate food, shelter, healthcare or access to formal education.

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Some children involved in the system are seen begging on streets and in public places, making the issue a major component of Nigeria’s wider out-of-school children crisis.

The problem has remained particularly pronounced in parts of northern Nigeria, where poverty, insecurity, limited access to schools and other socioeconomic challenges have contributed to difficulties in ensuring that children remain in education.

The Federal Government has attempted to address the challenge through the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children’s Education (NCAOOSCE).

The commission is responsible for coordinating policies and programmes aimed at improving access to education for Almajiri and other out-of-school children, including efforts to integrate Qur’anic education with basic and formal education.

The commission has also reported establishing learning centres and undertaking community mobilisation efforts aimed at encouraging vulnerable children to return to education.

However, the scale of Nigeria’s out-of-school children problem means that government interventions continue to face significant challenges.

The issue has also increasingly become part of political debates ahead of elections, with politicians from northern Nigeria regularly facing questions about what their administrations have done to reduce child begging and improve access to education.

Atiku’s latest response did not provide a detailed breakdown of specific federal government policies implemented during his tenure as vice president to eliminate street begging among Almajiri children.

Instead, he pointed to education initiatives associated with AUN and interventions he has supported outside government.

That distinction has become central to the debate triggered by Bunmi’s post, with the X user focusing on Atiku’s record while in government and Atiku responding by highlighting his broader educational contributions.

The exchange also reflects the difficulty of separating the responsibilities of individual political leaders from the wider structural causes of the Almajiri and street-begging crisis.

Issues such as poverty, parental displacement, limited school infrastructure, insecurity and inadequate social protection have all contributed to the persistence of vulnerable children outside formal education.

As the country moves towards the 2027 general election, education and child welfare are expected to remain important issues in political campaigns, particularly in northern states.

Atiku, who is seeking the presidency under the ADC, is likely to face further scrutiny over his record in public office and his proposals for addressing poverty, education and youth development.

For now, his response to the X user has shifted the conversation from a direct question about his eight years as vice president to his wider record and continuing involvement in education and support for vulnerable children.

The debate has also placed the plight of children seen begging on Nigerian streets back in the public spotlight, highlighting the need for sustained policies that address both access to education and the underlying socioeconomic conditions driving children into vulnerable situations.

Atiku, X user clash over Almajiri crisis, street begging