Almajiri System : The Hidden crisis fuelling Nigeria’s Insecurity

Nigeria’s insecurity crisis, often blamed on banditry and terrorism, has a root cause that few are willing to confront: the Almajiri system. The Foundation for Peace Professionals (PeacePro) has issued a stark warning that unless the system is dismantled within five years, Nigeria—and potentially the wider West African region—faces escalating chaos.

Abdulrazaq Hamzat, PeacePro’s Executive Director, said a fact-finding tour across seven Northern states revealed “millions of children abandoned in plain sight,” left to beg and survive without education, welfare, or protection. He warned that this systemic neglect is fueling recruitment into criminal gangs and extremist networks.

“The Almajiri system is more than a policy failure—it is a societal failure,” Hamzat said. “When families, religious institutions, ethnic groups, communities, and the state all abdicate responsibility, insecurity is not just likely—it is inevitable.”

PeacePro identified five layers of failure behind the crisis:

 • Family failure, where parents relinquish responsibility without safeguards.

 • Ethnic failure, where collective identity excuses systemic child neglect.

 • Religious failure, where children are enrolled in schooling systems lacking protection or skills.

 • Societal failure, where child begging is normalised and spiritualised.

 • State failure, where child protection laws and educational mandates are weakly enforced.

Hamzat emphasised that defending the Almajiri system as cultural or religious tradition is morally indefensible. “Culture loses legitimacy when it produces deprivation and social alienation,” he said. “A system that turns children into beggars is not heritage; it is a social disease.”

PeacePro urged the federal and state governments to treat the crisis as a national emergency, calling for coordinated eradication strategies within five years. Recommendations include large-scale rehabilitation and vocational programmes for existing Almajiri youths and sustained engagement with traditional and religious leaders to drive reforms grounded in local realities.

“Every year we fail to act, we produce another generation of children disconnected from family, society, and the state,” Hamzat said. “To confront Nigeria’s insecurity, we must confront the abandonment of its children.”