The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), in collaboration with the Bella Amor Global Aid Foundation, has distributed over six hundred mattresses, clothing and food items to four Tsangaya (Almajiri) schools in Kano State, North West Nigeria.
This forms part of efforts to improve the welfare and learning environment of vulnerable children across Nigeria.
The intervention, carried out under the organisations’ corporate social responsibility initiatives, is aimed at addressing some of the challenges confronting children enrolled in traditional Islamic education, particularly inadequate sleeping facilities and other basic necessities.
Speaking during the distribution exercise in Kano, the Zonal Coordinator, Zone B, Nigeria Customs Service, Assistant Comptroller-General Nsikan Umoh, said the initiative reflected the Service’s renewed commitment to supporting communities and contributing to national development beyond its traditional responsibilities.
She explained that the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, introduced a policy in October 2025 expanding the NCS’s community engagement activities to include sustainable development interventions through its corporate social responsibility programmes.
According to her, the Service had previously implemented similar projects in Kano and Jigawa States, including the distribution of school bags, classroom rehabilitation, provision of furniture and the installation of a solar-powered borehole at Malam Hassan Primary School in Jigawa.
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Umoh said the Service also extended its interventions to Islamic schools in Kano, where it distributed about copies of the Holy Qur’an, alongside clothing and food items to thousands of children.
She said the latest intervention followed an assessment of the sleeping conditions in the beneficiary schools, resulting in the provision of hundreds of mattresses in the current phase, in addition to food and clothing.
Umoh said improving the welfare of children in traditional Islamic education centres was important to creating a safer and more conducive environment for learning and personal development.
She noted that some of the beneficiaries came from neighbouring states, including Katsina, Sokoto and Kebbi, stressing that interventions of this nature could contribute to broader efforts to support vulnerable children irrespective of their state of origin.
Umoh added that the NCS had identified additional needs, including solar panels to provide electricity for learning, which she said would be presented to the Comptroller-General for consideration.
She said the Service’s CSR activities were focused on key areas such as education, healthcare, youth empowerment and support for vulnerable communities.
Also speaking, President and Founder of Bella Amor Global Aid Foundation, Ambassador Mirabel Etuk, said the intervention was prompted by the poor living conditions observed among Almajiri children during an earlier visit to Kano.
Etuk said the foundation had initially distributed Qur’ans, clothing and food items to the children but discovered that many of them were sleeping on bare floors and damaged mats.
She said the situation prompted her to seek the support of the Nigeria Customs Service, leading to the latest phase of the intervention.
According to her, the programme is being implemented under “Boy Child Life Matters Initiative,” which seeks to provide welfare support, education and skills development opportunities for vulnerable boys.
Etuk called for stronger collaboration among federal and state governments, private organisations, development partners and civil society groups to address the educational, nutritional, healthcare, shelter and skills-development needs of Almajiri children nationwide.
Public Institutions
She described the partnership with the Nigeria Customs Service as an example of how public institutions could complement government efforts to improve the welfare of vulnerable groups.
She said Bella Amor Global Aid Foundation was involved in child welfare advocacy, campaigns against gender-based violence and drug abuse, as well as programmes promoting the development of both boys and girls.
One of the beneficiaries, Malam Nafiu Muhammad Gorondutse, who spoke on behalf of a benefiting Tsangaya school, expressed appreciation to the Nigeria Customs Service and the foundation, promising that the items would be used judiciously.
The intervention highlights the growing importance of public-private partnerships in tackling social and educational challenges facing vulnerable children in Nigeria, particularly those attending traditional Islamic education centres.
Beyond Kano, such interventions could contribute to wider national efforts to improve access to basic welfare, education and skills development for children living in disadvantaged circumstances.
