A Northern Agenda For Political Parties and Political Aspirants In the 2023 Election – Confronting the Monster of Begging (Bara)
By Dr Nuraddeen M Auwal
Preamble
We are right in the thick of heated political debate, propaganda and campaigning, preparatory to the general election scheduled to hold in the Second Quarter of 2023.
With the prevalence of electronic media (notably, social media, television and radio stations), the cacophony is deafening; more than it has ever been before. Unlike in the past, political debate and discussion is no more the preserve of specialists; the general public is actively involved as it should be in a thriving democracy.
Much as it is desirable to open discussion to a larger of segment of society, it comes with the danger of losing sight of important issues and failing to set clear targets and objectives.
There are several front-burner issues that are being highlighted. However, my fear is that they are not articulated in clear terms with realistic, achievable targets that we could hold political leaders accountable to.
The issue of Security is a typical example. Without clearly articulated strategy, definition of desirable, actionable targets, it is a subject matter that it is very broad and vague. Every politician is promising to ‘tackle’ the security issue. These and many other questions are often left unanswered and undefined.
The tangential questions (on Security) for any political party or political aspirant are:
What is their overarching strategy?
How they will implement it?
What security architecture will they adopt? Why?
What practical steps they will take?
How will they fund it in a sustainable manner?
What are the indices of their success?
What time frame?
There are rarely opportunities to pin down politicians on these type of questions.
We cannot hold political leaders accountable to addressing the Security Issue in this omnibus form. In fact, unless we ask political parties and aspirants to outline clear plan with identifiable targets or we articulate these target ourselves and demand political parties and aspirants to make commitments, we risk just going round in circles.
I realise that, even doing that may not guarantee actual implementation, but at least it is better than leaving issues in broad and vague terms.
I strongly believe that it is the duty of the enlightened segment of the society, who are sufficiently knowledgeable on the various subject matters (Security, Economy, Education, Agriculture, etc.) to analyse and outline clear plan with identifiable, achievable targets. That is the least we can do.
Lamentations, condemnation in private fora and wrist-wringing is of no value. Staying on the side-line and doing nothing is not an option.
As it is often said: “we have no other country”. We and our loved ones will suffer the consequence of inaction now and for the foreseeable future.
It is in this regard that I spent a few hours to write down this piece on a subject matter that, for a long time, had been on my mind. A subject matter that I believe I have some level of expertise.
I present this write-up with the following objectives in mind:
I hope it will serve to set an agenda for politicians, political parties and the society in general
I hope it will serve to bring the issue to the front-burner and raise public consciousness on the matter – given its importance
I hope to generate discussion and hopefully precipitate desirable action at governmental and societal level.
Governments, Social analysts, Islamic scholars, academics and commentators from all walks of life have long been agonising over the problem of begging in Northern Nigeria, particularly Hausa Society.
The social, economic and indeed political ills associated with begging have been documented.
However, no concerted, coordinated and sustained practical effort have been made to tackle the problem. People seem to resign themselves to living with this monster that continue to grow in size and complexity.
Over the years, since independence, the problem has grown in dimension and the direct and indirect negative consequences are being manifested in multiple ways.
What I present below is a quick overview of the problem and my personal assessment and recommendation.
Defining and understanding the Phenomenon of Begging (Bara)
What is Begging (Bara)? I feel more comfortable labelling it in Hausa because the English translation does not seem to capture the essence of the phenomenon accurately.
Bara (or begging) is the professionalization of begging as a means of making money.
From a Sociological standpoint, I believe that Bara is best understood as part of larger social malaise.
Begging is one element of what I call Dependency Syndrome that has come to characterize Hausa Society. {For the purpose of our discussion, Hausa Society, refers to the social conglomeration that encompass the entire far Northern Nigeria, including Kanuri, Nupe and other ethnic groups in the region}.
While Bara is the most ubiquitous element, other manifestation of the dependency syndrome include:
Raraka (the practice of going from house to house or office to office with the sole of objective of extracting money from
Roko (is the same thing as Raraka, but it is sometimes done in a more professional format)
Zaman Kashe Wando (the practice of habitually sitting and doing nothing but gossiping and idle chat)
Bin dangi (this is Raraka which specifically targets ‘relatives’.)
Yaron (or Yaran) Gida (this part of the patron/client relationship traditionally associated with Hausa Society)
Banbadanchi, (Praising people with the intention to extract some reward)
Fadanci (serving as courtiers)
Dan Jagaliyar Siyasa (errand boys to politicians)
I should admit here that my translation may not be perfectly accurate in some cases, but the general meaning should be evident. There may also be other elements that I am not able to recall or unaware of.
Let me be quick to point out that some of these elements have positive or desirable manifestations, but the negative manifestations are closely intertwined and often overshadow the positive ones.
Bara is the most debilitating and degrading manifestation of the dependency syndrome. It is practiced on the streets, at homes, in offices, in markets, in the day and night.
It should be clearly stated that, in the Nigerian context, Bara is peculiarly associated with the ‘Hausa’ of Northern Nigeria.
Secondly, Bara is not practiced in other Moslem Societies of the world, hence it has nothing to do the Islamic Religion. In Saudi Arabia, of all the Moslem communities, it is the Hausa (Takari) that are known to practice Bara.
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Juvenile begging (Almajirci) obviously has its roots from the practice of sending young children (predominantly male) away from their parental homes in pursuit of Islamic (Koranic) learning.
The larger version of this practice is called Ci-Rani, which refers to yearly migration almajirai (both juvenile and adult) from rural areas to urban centres during dry season (after harvests) to earn income by undertaking various menial jobs. They mostly (but not totally) return to rural areas for the next farming season. Many of the migrants resort to begging in one form or the other.
It should be noted that Almajirai and other migrants in the cities of Northern Nigeria come from neighbouring countries, notably Niger Republic, Chad, Cameroun, etc.
Over time, attempts have been made to legitimise the practice of begging by associating it with religious (Islamic) and other cultural beliefs.
However, Islamic scholars have repeatedly and emphatically dissociated begging from its borrowed religious garment.
The other cultural practice of Hausa Society which is now closely linked to begging is what one might call abandonment of parental responsibility. Producing staggering number of children, well beyond the economic capacity of the parents and abandoning such children to the streets.
Negative Consequences of Begging
The monumental dimension of the practice Bara is such that the negative consequences are too numerous to itemise. However, some of the obvious ones include:
It provides unlimited avenues to criminal activities and recruiting grounds for religious extremists
It provides an umbrella for child abuse of the most gruesome type
It is a ready fuel and catalyst of social unrest, especially during electioneering season
It propels massive moral degradation of society
It subjects children to unimaginable Physical and Psychological trauma
It undermines productive capacity of the society in general and leads to tragic loss of talents that could benefit society
It legitimizes laziness and perpetual dependency thereby frustrates any poverty alleviation policy
Being a money-making venture, it makes it impossible to distinguish genuinely needy persons and others who fake their condition in order to attract sympathy. Thus, it is the more aggressive ones that receive more than the actual needy.
It undermines the achievements of Development Goals, particularly relating to education, health, environmental issues and self-reliance.
Finally, Bara (in its obnoxious form) offends every notion of universal morality. Bara offends God!
Past Efforts
Governments in the past have made some well-intentioned but often half-hearted efforts to tackle the problem of Bara. A notable example is one undertaken in Kano State.
In September 1987, under the Military governor, Group Captain, Mohammed Ndatsu Umaru, Kano State Government set up two committees to assess and make recommendation on two aspect of Bara.
A twelve person committee, under the chairmanship of Late Alhaji Isa Waziri was established to examine the problem of Almajirai (the juvenile segment of the subject matter)
A second fifteen person committee, under the chairmanship of Professor Sani Zaharadeen was also established to examine the problem of destitutes (the adult segment of the subject matter)
While some of the observations and recommendations of these committees have long been overtaken by events, others are still relevant and may be adopted.
I am sure other state governments have made similar efforts.
There are also countless academic outputs and journalistic writings on the subject matter. Bara is an open sore for most Northerners from all walks of life.
In 1989, the Kano State Government established the Rehabilitation Board For The Disabled. I was privileged to be the pioneer chairman of the new board.
One of the initiative of the Board was a project called ‘Active Measures Towards Eradicating the Practice of Juvenile Begging and Providing Assistance To Koranic Schools’.
The project had four components:
A Survey of Almajirai, other destitutes and Koranic Schools
Mass Mobilisation and Awareness Campaign (Radio & TV Programmes as well Public Lectures.
Fund Raising
Active Enforcement by Special Task Force
Although the project was truncated by the 1990 coup, it succeeded in eliminating beggars from the streets of Kano for 2-3 weeks. Most of the Almajirais were compelled to go back to their parents.
It is now three decades since this novel experiment took place. The problem has now grown and worsened in so many dimensions. However, the 1990 experiment proves that, with sufficient political will and total commitment the problem of Bara and its attendant social and economic debility can be crushed and eliminated.
More recently (2009/2010), the Federal Government, under the auspices of Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), initiated misconceived programme called: “Integrated Qur’anic & Tsangaya Education (IQTE) Programme” which attempted to convert and integrate the Quránic/Tsangaya system of education into a modern school system.
I call the programme misconceived because they over-simplified a complex social programme into a simple form. Juvenile begging is more than just an educational problem. Not surprisingly, the programme collapsed and was abandoned for many reasons, including insufficient political will.
Conclusion, Plea, Prayers
To conclude my write-up, I wish to highlight some recommendations:
Given its ubiquitous nature, it is impossible for Bara to be dealt with on a state-by-state basis. However, Kano State is best suited to take a lead in mobilizing other states and the Federal Might.
Unless the level of political commitment is total and unrelenting, it will end up as just another ‘flash-in-the-pan’. Given what society stands to gain, it is a well worth objective.
The sub-objectives (or concomitant objective) of the Banning of Bara policy must include:
Setting up comprehensive institutional mechanism of caring for the ‘genuine needy’ persons in society
Mobilizing sustainable public and private (Budgetary Allocation, Zakkah, sadaqat, etc) resources to be channeled on a permanent basis towards caring for the needy in a dignified manner
Providing all necessary services (educational, health and productive activities) for the needy
Mounting a vigorous campaign to stop the cultural practices that lead Juvenile Bara, particularly producing children beyond the economic capacity of parents and abdicating parental care
My plea is that:
In the interest of promoting a decent, caring society;
In the interest of promoting a ‘true image’ of an Islamic Society;
In the interest of our children;
In the interest of the future of our society;
WE MUST CONFRONT AND STOP THE MONSTER OF BARA!!!
Dr. Nuraddeen M. Auwal
Management Consultant
Abuja
