The Almajiri Commission and how politicians cannibalise Nigerians
By Faruk Ahmed Imagine you are a child in Kano. You wake up every morning with a plastic bowl in your hand, not a book. You walk miles under the sun, not to school, but to beg. Your parents cannot feed you. The government created a commission just for you. It was called the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education (NCAOOSCE). It was supposed to be your lifeline. Then they built roads with your money. In Ogun State. The commission that forgot the children The NCAOOSCE was established in May 2023 to reform the Almajiri system and reintegrate out-of-school children. Then came the 2026 budget. Scrutiny revealed that ₦ 8.4 billion of its budget was earmarked for road construction in Ogun, Ekiti, and Katsina States. One project: "Rehabilitation and Construction of Obasanjo-Itele Road" in Ogun— ₦ 1.4 billion. Another: roads in Damarkatu, Katsina— ₦ 1 billion. Yet another: internal roads at Government Science College, Ekiti— ₦ 1 billion. Meanwhile, the co...