Yobe Government has said it will provide free meals and dresses to 12,000 Qur’anic school pupils (Almajiri), as part of activities to celebrate the Eid-el-Kabir celebration.

In northern Nigeria, Almajiri refers to a young boy of non-formal Qur’anic schools (Tsangaya) commonly found in the region.

They (Almajiri) engage in street begging to fend for themselves.

Executive Secretary of Yobe State Emergency Management Agency, Dr Mohammed Goje, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday in Damaturu.

Almajiri is a Hausa word derived from the Arabic word “Al-Muhajiroun,” which literally means migration and refers to a person who left his home in search of Islamic knowledge.

Goje said that food and dresses would be distributed to the Almajiri in 240 selected Tsangaya schools in seven local government areas of the state.

“Every Almajiri in the selected location will celebrate the Sallah with dignity, eat in school without going out to beg and have new sets of clothes, and lots more,” he said.

He said the free feeding programme was a multidimensional and multisectoral approach with short, medium and long term plans.

The secretary said that relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies had been fully mobilised towards successful implementation of the programme in line with the directive of Governor Mai Mala-Buni.

Goje said the agency has keyed into the social services component by providing Sallah welfare packages to selected Almajiri Schools.

Also commenting on the development, Malam Modu Goni, a Tsangaya school teacher, commended the gesture, adding that it would enable the Almajiri to celebrate the Sallah in a happy mood.

He urged organisations and wealthy individuals to emulate the gesture and support the Almajiri during the festive season.

(NAN)