Kano state Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, described the ‘Almajiai’ phenomenon in the north as breeding ground for COVID-19 due to their vulnerability as a result of lack of hygiene, shelter and proper sanitation.
He made this known on Thursday at the opening of a training for a special rapid response team to cater for over 2, 000 ‘almajirai’ stationed at three mega centres in Kiru, Karaye and Gabasawa in Kano.
“From our investigation and data collected, we have three types of ‘almajiris’ in Kano state.
“The first group are those ‘almajiris’ belonging to other states of the federation, second group are ‘almajiris’ who are indigenes of Kano state and the third group are ‘almajiris’ who cannot even mention where they come from or who their parents are; they have nowhere to go,” Ganduje disclosed.
He said some of the ‘almajiris’ sleep under the bridges, markets and motor parks, but because of the coronavirus, government has already banned begging and closed Islamic schools.
“These ‘almajiris’ constitute hazards and they are breeding ground for coronavirus. Because they stay in a congested environment, they have no defined place for them to sleep, no prescribed food for them to eat, no provision for sanitation and therefore, they are vulnerable,” the governor stated.
Based on these, Ganduje decided to pay special attention on the children by establishing the special response team to examine and protect them under the climate of COVID-19.
“Those found to be negative will be taken back to their parents while those found to be positive will be retained, isolated and treated; when they recover they will then be taken back to their states with certification from the NCDC.
“We decided to examine all the ‘almajiris’ in Kano state. Our intention is to protect them and those who are negative we take them back to their parents, back to their states to ensure that they are free from corona virus.
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“Those who are positive, we are not taking them back to their states of origin. We are putting them in isolation centres until they are cured and are confirmed negative.
“Then we take them to their respective states in a good condition with certification from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
“Those ‘almajiris’ from Kano we have adequate arrangement for their education and those who cannot find where to go we are their parents and we already to cater for them.
“Our intention is to ensure that the ‘almajiris’ system is fully integrated with the conventional system of education. Our children have right to education and ‘almajiris’ have right to education,” he asserted.
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