The Kano State Government has announced a ban on the practice of street begging known as Almajiris. The development is part of the efforts of the State Government to implement compulsory basic education for the state and eliminate the menace of out of school children. The announcement was made during the launching of Basic Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA) and Distribution of offer of Appointment to 7,500 volunteer teachers on Tuesday, at Sani Abacha Stadium Kano.

The Kano state Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje said the Almajiri system can longer be condoned and teachers in the state must come in terms with the new development.

“If Almajiri teacher thinks he cannot accept the new policy he has to leave the state,” the governor said.

The new law on compulsory basic education stipulates serious punishment for parents who let their children on the loose to beg in the streets.

“When Almajiri are caught begging, it is not only that beggar is caught, but his parents or guardians. Such parents or guardians would be taken to court to face the wrath of the law.

“This policy of free and compulsory basic and secondary education goes along with its integration of our Almajiri system into the mainstream policy implementation. This suggests that English and Arithmetic must be included in the Almajiri schools’ curriculum,” Ganduje stated.

The former president Goodluck Jonathan invested N15 billion in Almajiri schools to encourage education in the north where there is an alarming number of out-of-school children. Alas, the schools were abandoned to their ruin until now.

Ganduje said the newly introduced system will incorporate English and Math with Islamic studies to enable the children to acquire religious knowledge.

“That will give them an opportunity to continue with their studies to secondary schools and beyond,” he said

He also added that the newly recruited 7,500 teachers will be posted accordingly to implement the new education policy.

“They will be posted to Islamiyyah and Almajiri schools, so that our Almajiri schools would be fully integrated under our new policy of education,” the governor added.

Kano State is notorious for mendicancy, especially by school age children. According to UNICEF, Kano is home to about nine million out-of-school children in northern Nigeria, a situation that does not only breed a bleak economic future for the country but also offers children up for radicalization.

Senate president, Ahmed Lawan said during his time as a senate leader in the 8th National Assembly that the practice of Almajiri has become a way to give terrorists easy targets to recruit.

“The recruits are there; those of 17 years of age who are supposed to be in school but are roaming the streets. Though it’s controversial, a time has come in those states where the Almajiri system was established for over 100 years to see how we can work out a model that will ensure that the system did not continue the way it is today.” Lawan said.

Apart from Kano, other northern states entertain a proportionate share of the Almajiri system, a situation that has also been linked to the prevalence of drug abuse in the region. The Emir of Gwandu and Chairman, Kebbi State Council of Chiefs, Alhaji Muhammad Bashar, adding voice to issue said it’s a shame to the north that such a detrimental system still exists.

“It is a shame on the north that you see Almajiri everywhere begging in the streets. The North West has the highest number of drug addicts in Nigeria,” he said.

While there has been considerable applause for the step taken by the Kano State Government, there are also doubts that it may fail. The fear comes from the belief that allowing the Almajiri into the education system will always result in street begging and eventually, turn of events that will threaten sound youth development and pose a danger to the general public.

It is believed that some other factors need to be addressed for the ban to be effective. Shehu Sani, a senator in the 8th Assembly, voicing his concern about the Kano State’s decision said that more laws are needed to put an end to street begging in the north.

“A law no matter how punitive can’t stop or end begging. Many states tried it in the last twenty years, it never worked. The Economic, Social, Religious and Cultural contributing factors must be addressed. A law enforced can disperse them for a while and the factors will return them,” he said.

While many maintain that there is difference between begging and Almajiri, and the latter is culture to be preserved, the reality is suggesting that the latter will never function without the first. Because Islamic tenets in northern Nigeria have promoted polygamy so that men of little means could marry many wives and make many children, even when they apparently have no means of taking care of them.

The former Central Bank of Nigerian governor, now Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi said the social crisis is being fostered by parents and governments.

He said the crisis has escalated since 1999/2000 when 12 northern states declared that they have adopted sharia Legal System but ignored integral parts of it that addresses important family issues such as child rearing.

“What you deal with is parents forcing young daughters into loveless marriages, arbitrary divorce, and lack of care within marriage after marriage; everyday wives are complaining about husbands who claim their rights but do not face any of the responsibilities of marriage. Women being divorced with their children and husband not taking care of the children, and those children end up on the streets, drugs, political thuggery and violent extremism.

“We speak of the Almajiri problem as if Almajiri is the problem when in fact the problem is the irresponsible fathers who leave their children on the streets, and it’s important that we understand what are the roles and responsibilities of those who have political authority, especially those at the state level, on decision,” the Emir Sanusi said.

The fundamental factors fueling the street-begging crisis in the north appears to be far from the streets, they stem from homes, religious belief and governmental policies that make room for them all. And until it is tackled from these bases, government efforts to quell it will only yield temporary results.

As the quest to electrify Africa continues, African countries are exploring alternatives to gas and solar energy to power electricity. Wind power has become one viable option that leading economies in the continent are tapping into.

Africa is the least electrified continent in the world with a booming population of young people pushing through entrepreneurship; the situation has dampened its economic growth, making more rooms for unemployment.

Industrial activities have also been stymied, and it wanes the interest of potential foreign direct investments. Efforts to curtail the deficiencies have been in slow pace. National grids are underperforming, producing much less than what is required for electricity stability. In Nigeria, power generation still hangs around 4,000mw when the country, with a population of about 200 million people, needs 180,000 megawatts to generate enough power for constant electricity supply.

Solar energy and coal have been used as alternatives to power generation but they have also fallen short of the required capacity, and their efficiency has become questionable due to technical shortfalls especially solar panels. And in an era when the world is pushing for cleaner energy, various options are being entertained outside gas powered electricity.

In search of diversified alternatives, African countries are taking aim at wind energy. Last year, following the lead of Egypt, Morocco, Ethiopia and the Middle East installed about 900 megawatts of wind power. The development is attracting others who eagerly look for a solution to their epileptic power situation.

On Monday, Senegal inaugurated the largest wind power plant in West Africa. The plant is projected to supply up to 15% of energy to the country’s national electricity company, Senelec’s energy production.

The plant which was built by British renewable power company Lekela, is said to have 158 megawatts capacity and took a period of 24 months hours to be built. The Senegalese president Macky Sall said the plant is evident of the country’s resolve to find a new approach to its electricity generation.

“A new step in the energy market towards an emerging Senegal. Emerging Senegal, a Senegal that is fueled by its momentum through an energy mix that combines all of our potentials to ensure continuous quality service at competitive costs,” he said.

The president said two million people will gain access to electricity through the wind power project. Senegal has about 35% deficit in electricity supply, prompting the government to include power efficiency into its plan of making West Africa an emerging economy in 2025.

South Africa is planning to add 3.3 gigawatts to its energy capacity by 2024 using wind power. The country has been struggling to keep its electricity capacity in par with the growing population and economic progress. The lapses in the country’s electricity supply have doubled recently, resulting in blackouts and suggesting a need for diversification of its power sources. In the quest to meet the growing demand, South Africa needs to expand its electricity infrastructure, and the country has adopted wind energy as the alternative.

Kenya has also taken on a giant wind energy project in a desert located 600 kilometers north of the capital Nairobi. Described as Africa’s largest wind power project, the Lake Turkana Wind Power farm is made up of 365 turbines with a power dispensing capacity of 310 megawatts. It is expected at completion to supply cleaner electricity at a more affordable cost compared to the national grid.

Ethiopia is notable for its Ashegoda Wind Farm, the turbine has 120 megawatts power and supplies electricity to about 3 million people. Located 780 km north of the capital Addis Ababa, the wind plant has reduced the cost of electricity allowing the Ethiopian Electric Power Generation Corporation (EEPCo) to produce each kWh at a low cost of about $0.08 per kWh.

In Egypt, the Ras Ghareb Windfarm with 262.5MW capacity project has been developed close to the Gulf of Suez, about 30 km from north-west of Ras Ghareb. The wind farm is expected to supply electricity to about 500,000 households, according to power-technology website. It is also expected to help the Egyptian government’s target of 20% supply of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020.

One of the major challenges so far has been efficient wind to power the turbines. According to the Renewable Energy Focus, annual average wind speeds greater than 4 meters per second m/s (9mph) are required for small wind turbines. And for larger scale turbines, a minimum average wind speed of 6 m/s (13 mph) is required. So the coastal regions of the continent are the best places to situate the wind farms.

The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC)’s data shows that wind energy installation is expected to increase over the next five years, and the African regions are expected to install 10.7 gigawatts by 2024.

Palm Oil as they say is a Silent Goldmine. It was a lifesaver in the 80’s and has the potential to help rebuild the oil driven economy that has lost its steering. But how can this happen? This article explores the road map.

Historians believe that the use of palm plants as a food source dates back 5,000 years ago to West Africa. Oil palm trees grow in warm climates that have an abundance of rain and sunshine such as Nigeria, Malaysia and Indonesia. Palm plants produce two exportable commodities.

The pulp of the tree is crushed to form palm oil while the seed is crushed to form palm kernel oil. Palm oil has several applications including cooking, lubricants, candle-making, cosmetics, and can even be eaten prior to being crushed. It is cheaper to produce biofuel using palm oil making it a cost-efficient substitute to using soybeans or other crops.

Palm Oil is in abundance in Nigeria, specifically in Enugu, Imo, Ondo, Edo,, Ekiti, Cross River, Delta, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Anambra, Oyo, Abia and Ogun States, and these are considered to be the largest producers of palm oil. Palm tree plantations are spread over an area estimated to range from 1.65 million to 2.4 million hectares.

Palm oil industry is considered the industry that will revitalize the Nigerian economy and reduce its excess dependence on oil. Here is a statement from the Governor of Nigeria’s central bank Mr. Godwin Emefiele about palm oil, “in the 60s, Nigeria controlled 40 per cent share in the global palm oil chain’’. We were exporting our palm oil to different parts of the world, but because we found crude oil, we receded and abandoned it. The price of a ton of palm oil is more than the price of a barrel of crude oil. So, what happened?

“For other countries, when they had the opportunity in agriculture and in the crude sector, they did not let their guards down; unfortunately, we did and that is what we are paying for today. We will grow that market again and after that, we will go into cocoa,” he said. From his statement, the value of Palm oil on the Global market is greater than that of Crude oil (which is Nigeria’s main export)

Here is a detailed price comparison:

• As of January 27,2020, one barrel of crude oil today sold for about $53.14 which is N1,9263.25 (exchange rate N362.50 = $1).
• A barrel contains 159 liters. Which means crude oil sold for $0.334 per liter.
• As of January 24, 2020—Palm oil closed on January 24,2020 at $2,925.00 per ton which is N1,060,312.50 (exchange rate N362.50 = $1).
• A ton is 1,000 liters. Which means palm oil sold for $2.93 per liter on the international market.

So Where Do We Go from Here?

A liter of crude oil sells for $0.334 while a liter of palm oil sells for $2.93 (almost ten times the value of crude oil). Palm oil is easily produced locally and with the governments drive for more hands in the agricultural sector, this would be the best area to invest money, time and human resource into as it will yield more returns.