Seventeen-year-old Abubakar Mustapha carefully pieces together the straps of a new pair of footwear at a small roadside shop in Shuni, Sokoto State.
Mustapha had become a shoemaker in just three months after training at Dange Shuni Child Friendly Space, sponsored by the Eleva Foundation in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF.
A few months ago, he had no vocational skills, no formal education, and no hope for the future; but now he is a skilled shoemaker, selling handcrafted shoes and handbags.
Out of school for most of his life, the 17-year-old had foreclosed any return to formal education and given up hope of a better life, but the transformative initiatives restored his hope.
An excited Mustapha told journalists that with the vocational skills acquired at the Child Friendly Space, he has been “empowered for life” as he now earns a living, selling his products for between N1,500 to N5,000, a financial lifeline that has redefined his future.
Changing the Narrative
Mustapha is one of 3,472 boys and 1,947 girls in Sokoto State, who have benefited from the transformative actions of UNICEF and its partners with life skills to become self-reliant and productive.
So far, in Sokoto State alone, 3,472 boys and 1,947 girls have been equipped with life skills; 1,468 girls and 1,714 boys have been reintegrated into formal education; 589 girls and 978 boys received livelihood support, while 782 girls and 914 boys received counseling services.
For 18-year-old Faiza Bello, the impact goes beyond just skills acquisition. Through the programme, she learned how to make Vaseline, shampoo, and other products.
But more importantly, she gained knowledge about contemporary social issues, including the dangers of early marriage.
“My sister was married off at a very young age, and it led to many challenges,” she says. “I told my mother that things shouldn’t be done this way anymore, based on everything I’ve learned here.”
The initiative empowers young people like Faiza not just with knowledge but with the confidence to challenge harmful cultural practices in a respectful and informed way.
The Almajiri system, which has survived over a century of practice in northern Nigeria has children, mainly boys, and in some instances girls, separated from their families and migrating to other towns to be under the supervision of Mallams, an Islamic teacher.
The statistics are staggering. According to the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, there are an estimated 9.5 million Almajiris across Nigeria, making them one of the most marginalized groups in the country.
Previous government efforts to reintegrate Almajiri education into the formal school system have struggled with poor implementation, funding gaps, and lack of a clear, sustainable strategy.
UNICEF, however, is taking a multi-pronged approach, offering Almajiris and out-of-school children not just access to formal education but also vocational skills training, counseling, and mentorship programmes, a model that has shown tangible impact.
A Model for Sustainable Change
Equipped with skills acquisition centres and facilities, UNICEF’s Child Friendly Spaces in Dange Shuni and Kalalawa, Kware Local Government Areas, as well as the Digital Village for Almajiris and Out of School Girls, domiciled in Sultan Muhammadu Maccido Institute of Quranic Studies, Sokoto, provide opportunities for tailoring, soap making, shoemaking, digital skills and access to formal education.
Practically, these centers are equipping thousands of young people with practical, income-generating abilities that reduce their vulnerability to poverty, street begging, and exploitation. Despite these achievements, the initiative is currently operational in only 8 out of 23 local government areas in Sokoto State, leaving a significant gap in reach.
Speaking at a two-day Media Dialogue in Sokoto, UNICEF’s Child Protection Specialist, Pius Uwamanua, described the Child-Friendly Space, as a one-stop center meant to support out-of-school children and Almajiris.
“We have different activities happening. It’s actually a multi-sectoral center that provides different services for children. This was given birth as a result of the Almajiri and out-of-school children,” he said.
Uwamanua, who covers Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara offices of UNICEF, said there were 249,000 out-of-school children in Sokoto, out of which about 113,523 were classified as Almajiris and 136,520 as out-of-school.
He added that the centres are meant to provide different kinds of services and support for the children, including monthly mentorship programme, life skills, civic education, civic rights, vocational skills and leadership.
“For the girls, we talk about adolescent reproductive health issues. They also talk about issues that have to do with a different life skill, like negotiation skills, refusal skills, decision-making skills, setting goals.
“They also train the girls on different vocational skills, like knitting, cosmetology, and tailoring. We have counseling rooms, in which girls that have challenges and need to speak to a counselor can access them,” he said.
While delivering a presentation on UNICEF’s “Transformative Actions to Address the Situation of Almajiris and Out-of-school Children in Northwest Nigeria” the Child Protection Specialist in Sokoto Field Office, Godwin Odo, underscored the need for widening the reach of the interventions.
Odo also disclosed that in the five Northwest states of Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto and Jigawa states where the care services, life skills sessions and psychosocial support are being implemented, only a total of 69,821, representing 41,473 boys and 28,248 girls benefited from the scheme.
While this highlights significant effort to help the out-of-school children population, it falls short of desired spread to reach many, as Nigeria is believed to have over 10.018 million out-of-school children; with 69 per cent of them from the north.
According to the UNICEF Chief of Field Office, Sokoto, Michael Juma, currently, they are also engaging in mapping of all out-of-school children to inform the design of education programmes, particularly focusing on children who are coming from the far areas in the wards as well as the LGAs.
Juma said out of the 249000 out-of-school children in Sokoto, 2,500 are currently enrolled in community-based child protection centers, focusing on vocational skills training, digital literacy, but also looking at life skills education.
“As you move to Dange Shuni, we have 1,653, combining both Al-Majaris as well as out-of-school adolescent girls. In total, in terms of the vocational skills training, we have 3,404 that have graduated.
“And again, in terms of case management, particularly children in need of care and protection, we have around 16,625 that have gone through the case management. So, if you look at the trajectory in terms of the progress, there’s a lot of progress being made, but reaching the 129, we are yet to hit the 129,000 children,” he said.
Sustaining the Progress
Apparently, the key to solving the Almajiri crisis lies in scaling up this project nationwide, a government-backed approach that will integrate formal education with vocational training. UNICEF’s success in Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, and beyond proves that transformation is possible if policymakers commit to sustaining and expanding these interventions.
As the UNICEF-backed project nears its end in April 2025, concerns are growing over sustainability and expansion. There is therefore an urgent need for sustainability and expansion to preserve the gains recorded and cover new grounds in other areas currently not reached.
Stakeholders, including traditional leaders like Alhaji Muhammed Sabi Umar, District Head of Gagi, are calling for increased government involvement to preserve and scale up the gains recorded.
“The center was designed at a time when we desperately needed digital literacy and vocational training. Our children today need not just literacy and numeracy but also practical skills that will make them self-reliant,” he said.
He commended UNICEF and all partners, as well as the government of Sokoto State, for creating the enabling environment for children to have quality education to compete with their peers.
Umar, who is also a member of the Sokoto Mobilisation Committee for Almajiri Integrated Interventions, said government has started showing ownership of the digital village through its personnel who are supporting and providing services.
“A lot of gaps have been identified that necessitate movement of Almajiris along the street, in the urban and rural slums.
“Most different issues cut across, which include teaching and learning material, which I believe digital literacy is part of what we need to bridge gaps between different skills.
“At the end, they will not be looking for a white-collar job from the government. They will be dependent on their own. So I believe the centre here will equip the children with the basic literacy and numeracy, as well as also skill acquisition through digital world,” he said.
