Kannywood star, groups to the rescue
A Kannywood movie producer in Kano, Hassan Giggs, distributed clothing materials to about 1, 000 almajiris in Kano metropolis. The movie star said he was touched by the deplorable conditions of almajiri kids who roam the streets. He urged parents to take full responsibility of their children to build a better society.
“We observed that most of the almajiris have been into terrible situation especially in this harsh harmattan season. I observed that most of them do not have clothes to wear; some don’t even have shoes so you could imagine how difficult life could be without these essential items,” he said.
He appealed to parents to rise to their responsibilities, and ensure that they make adequate provisions for their children before sending them to the city to acquire religious knowledge.
Also, some non-governmental organizations (NGO) have been providing the almajiris with jackets. One of such is Today’s Life Foundation in Kano. They solicited clothes and food for distribution to the almajiris. The foundation’s Hajiya Mansura Isah said “I know of a tsangaya school here in Kano that the almajiris are well over 5,000 and they have occupied almost the whole area. If he was to feed them on a daily basis, 10 bags of rice will not be enough for them.”
She said it is mostly through personal contribution by members that her organization purchased what to distribute to the almajirai.
Foundation donate jackets andclothes to almajiris.
“When the cold season sets in, I was walking along the road when I spotted a boy shivering. I was touched and began to mobilise people through various social media groups on the need to support these children,” said the chairman of the Katsina-based Masari Restoration Awareness Forum, Sabo Musa.
He said, “We are putting on many clothes and sheets in our rooms but still feel the cold. What about these innocent children who were put into these conditions by the parents?
“I took it upon myself to lead with my forum; we bought clothes worth N1.5m which we distributed to seven almajiri schools. We did this outreach for four days and expended over N7m to over 12 schools and we are proud that most of the children now wear clothes,” he said.