“You cannot stop Street begging without following due process” – Council of Ullama tell Ganduje

The Kano Council of Ullama’s have reacted to the recent ban of street begging by the Kano State Government saying street begging cannot be stopped as “Even the government that says it has barred begging is not serious about it, It will ban it and after a while it will return”.
The Kano Chairman of the Council of Ullama’s Sheik Ibrahim Khalil said, “Our opinion is on three to five issues, firstly, if we view the history of banning street begging since the time of Sir Ahmadu Bello, when they were making efforts to ban street begging but were opposed by the Ulama because they saw it as a way of keeping people away from Quranic or religious studies.”

“The right steps have not been followed and begging cannot stop because the correct measures have not been put in place. The right steps to follow in banning street begging include firstly, the Quranic clerics involved have to be identified. Because there are street beggars who are Quranic students, there are beggars who are sent by their parents from the rural areas to come and be begging in the urban areas, there is also begging engaged in by some physically challenged individuals.”

“You need statistics of the real situation, know the total number of the Quranic teachers, the total number of the Quranic schools and their pupils, know exactly who the real Almajiris are first. You will then know their needs understand their problems and then proffer the right solutions. You can decide to cater for them or send them back to their homes, he added.

“But you have not conducted all these. They have not consulted people like us that have made efforts on the issue to hear our own experiences, get our reports, those of Ndatsu in the past and those of the times of Sir Ahmadu Bello to get a better solution.”

“To us at the Council of Ulama, the government cannot do it and is not serious about it. They are just doing it to appease their masters abroad, or get their money or some kind of noise making. Or they might have been accused of something from somewhere for which they simply organise a ceremony and that is all. That is our opinion”, Sheik Ibrahim said.