South East breaking News
Afenifere and a former governor of old Kaduna State , Balarabe Musa , urged Buhari to effect a new political order to address the Almajiri system as well as the rising poverty in the country .
Afenifere noted that the restructuring of the country would address the social system breeding the Almajiris .
Its spokesman, Yinka Odumakin , in an interview with The PUNCH on Tuesday , said the government should have invested in social empowerment programmes that could address the Almajiri problem instead of sharing money through its Trader Moni scheme .
He argued that a social investment scheme to the tune of N 300m annually could change the social condition of many Nigerians .
Odumakin stated , “ The President should be aware of the social system which has produced the Almajiris in large numbers. This social system has been nurtured over the years and various leaders have not made attempt to change it .
“ If the government had invested just N 300m in social security investment, would it not have created many jobs and taken many of the children off the street ? But we are breeding more children .
“ We are clamouring for the restructuring of Nigeria so that every geopolitical zone can be productive . They resisted it , saying we should continue to share money . Unless we restructure the country to address poverty and the Almajiri system , lamentation would mean nothing . ”
Musa, who is the Chairman , Board of Trustees of the defunct People ’s Redemption Party , noted that Buhari had all the resources at his disposal to do what was necessary to change the condition of the street children .
He agreed with the President that the elite had failed to proffer solutions to the challenge , adding that the issue should be of utmost concern to the government if it was serious about the issue .
Musa said , “ The President has all the resources and he can do what it takes to effect a change . He can also effect a new political order to address the problem of Almajiri in the country . Like he said, the political elite have failed to address the problem of Almajiri and this should take the front burner as noted by the President . ”
The Second Republic politician said it was not enough for the nation to talk about the situation , insisting that it was time to tackle the challenge headlong .
He added, “ I don ’ t think it is enough for us to only talk about the challenge , it is high time we took action and confronted the issue headlong . I expect the government to initiate education and social policies to rehabilitate the children roaming our streets.
This is the least I expected from President Buhari. ”
Copyright PUNCH