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Yandaba on the streets of Kano: Socialconditions and criminalityAbeeb O. Salaam aa Department of Psychology, School of Human Sciences, Universityof Surrey, Guildford, UK

Available online: 26 Mar 2011

To cite this article: Abeeb O. Salaam (2011): Yandaba on the streets of Kano: Social conditions andcriminality, Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies, 6:1, 68-77

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Vulnerable Children and Youth StudiesVol. 6, No. 1, March 2011, 68–77

Yandaba on the streets of Kano: Social conditions and criminality

Abeeb O. Salaam*

Department of Psychology, School of Human Sciences, University of Surrey,Guildford, UK

(Received 29 July 2010; final version received 27 December 2010)

The current study seeks to document the social conditions (e.g. economic hardshipand inaccessible education) that could precipitate vulnerable youths to join the yand-aba (young, male, urban gang members in northern Nigeria) and consequently becomeinvolved in crime. Seventy-one members of the gang between the ages of 13 and27 years (mean = 18.7 years) were recruited for the study from a variety of the gang’slocations and hideouts in Kano, Nigeria, using the snowballing technique. Adoptingquantitative analysis, the computed outcomes suggest that the majority of the gangmembers were school dropouts or had become involved through the process of almajiri.More than half the gang members also had a history of arrest and conviction. Thefindings reflect a need to strengthen the educational system and launch a family plan-ning campaign and stringent economic policies to prevent vulnerable children andyouths from joining the yandaba. The major limitations of the current findings andrecommendations for further research in this area are discussed.

Keywords: almajiri; antisocial activities; criminal offending; economic hardship;social conditions; yandaba

Background

The yandaba consists of young, male, urban gang members in northern Nigeria (mainlyin Kano) who pursue a life of crime on the streets because of a lack of educational andemployment opportunities (Matusitz & Repass, 2009). Kano, one of the ancient cities inNigeria, is located in the North-western part of the country. Although the city is inhabitedpredominantly by the Hausa tribe – in Nigeria, mainly of the Muslim faith – it has a goodnumber of Yoruba and Igbo communities who are considered immigrants or settlers. Ofthe 14 Hausa States in Nigeria, Kano State has the largest population (National Bureauof Statistics, 2008) and the city of Kano is the capital of Kano State. Despite its politicalstrength, the city of Kano has been subjected to incessant religious riots (Albert, 1993,1994; Casey, 1998; Chime, 1985), ethnic conflict (Albert, 1994; Casey, 1998), youth gangviolence (Dan-Asabe, 1991; Dawha, 1996; Ya’u, 2000) and the almajiri heritage, or streetchildren phenomenon (Awofeso, Ritchie, & Degeling, 2003). Of all these social issues, thecurrent study focuses on the concept of a youth gang popularly called “yandaba”.

According to Dan-Asabe (1991), the yandaba consists of young males, aged between10 and 30 years, with no visible means of livelihood, who tend to engage in criminal

*Email: femisalaam@gmail.com

ISSN 1745-0128 print/ISSN 1745-0136 online© 2011 Taylor & FrancisDOI: 10.1080/17450128.2011.554581http://www.informaworld.com

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activity. The members of this group come mainly from the lower socioeconomic class andfrom polygamous families characterized by many siblings (Dan-Asabe, 1991; Ya’u, 2000).Due to their socioeconomic condition, parents who cannot afford to send their childrento school may decide to enrol them in Islamic education, called almajiri. Almajiri comesfrom the Arabic word, al-muhajirin, which describes someone who leaves home in searchof knowledge. This tradition is common in northern Nigeria, where young boys are sentfar away from home to study the Quran, Hadith and other branches of Islamic knowledgewithout financial support from their wards or parents (Albert, 1994; Usman, 2008). Theschoolteachers are expected to take care of these children, and might be compelled tosend them onto the streets to beg because there are few resources at the teachers’ disposal(Awofeso et al., 2003). It is plausible, therefore, that when such children grow up theyare vulnerable to “graduating” to the yandaba and subsequently become involved in otherantisocial activities. Girls are rarely enrolled in almajiri because it is seen as a subversionof a basic community value of the Hausa tribe, where female education is discouraged,yet there are a few young girls among yandaba gang. Due to the extremely small numberof female yandaba and the perceived restrictions placed on cross-gender relations amongstrict Muslims, the present study will focus on male yandaba alone.

The typical activities of contemporary members of the yandaba include: holding clan-destine meetings in dabas, which are secret lairs usually based in derelict buildings, riverbanks or market sites (Matusitz & Repass, 2009); engaging in extensive drug and alcoholuse (Dawha, 1996); pimping for prostitutes (Dan-Asabe, 1991); and taking advantage ofany civil disturbance (e.g. political or ethnic unrest) to engage in looting or theft (Ya’u,2000). The gang members may also be recruited, financed and sometimes armed by pub-lic officials and politicians, or their representatives, to attack their rivals, skew electionresults and intimidate the public (International Crisis Africa Report, 2007; Kushee, 2008).While engaging in conflicts or violent behaviour the gang members select their targetsindiscriminately, and anyone in the vicinity of their operations is at risk. There are frequentabductions and rapes of women (Dan-Asabe, 1991; Ya’u, 2000); a strand of the yandabathat specializes in abducting women is known as Yan Daukar Amarya (bride snatchers).

In light of the vast wave of antisocial activities and crime among gang members theNigerian police force treat them ruthlessly, and suspected gang members can be detainedindefinitely (Dan-Asabe, 1991; Ya’u, 2000). Thus, the criminalization of the yandaba phe-nomenon gives further impetus to the gang members to commit violence against societyin an attempt to protect their space and autonomy. This explains why they are noted foremploying the services of traditional native doctors for protection. These traditional doc-tors (boka, mai magani) provide charms or voodoo to protect the gang members againstinjuries from weapons, such as knives, cutlasses, machetes and nails. The belief in theeffectiveness of these charms often encourages the gang members to engage in intimi-dation, kidnapping, fights with rival gangs, gang rapes, petty theft, armed robbery andpromoting public terror (Kushee, 2008; Ya’u, 2000).

Despite the yandaba members’ antisocial activity and the subsequent effect on boththemselves and their victims, there has been little research into the social conditions(e.g. economic hardship and inaccessible education) that may propel street children andyouths towards gang membership in Nigeria. Most of the available literature on the subjectis anecdotal, or media reports that are not academic in nature or lack a scientific approach,coupled with biased presentation and strong emotional language (Salaam & Brown, 2010).To fill this gap, the current study aims to analyse the physical environment and socialconditions experienced by youths before joining the yandaba as a means of generatinga livelihood in Kano, Nigeria. Understanding this is crucial to fashioning public policies

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aimed at reducing the number of vulnerable children and youths who join the gang and theantisocial activities that may follow. To achieve this, the following research questions wereraised and answered in the current study:

� What are the demographic profiles and histories of the participants?� What are the various social conditions experience before turning to the yandaba by

the participants?� What are the forensic profiles of the participants?

Social conditions, youth gang involvement and antisocial activities

The social conditions that could propel vulnerable youths towards gang membershipand subsequent antisocial behaviour are associated with various psychological variables,including increasing poverty, large family size, forced early marriage, physical abuse orneglect by the family, illness/death of a parent and forced work, the increasingly fragilesocial support system, peer influence and unwanted pregnancy (for a review, see Aderinto,2000; Moazzam, Saqib, Hiroshi, & Aime, 2004; Mustafa, Plummer, & El Hag Yousif,2008; Olley, 2006). These social conditions are not mutually exclusive and, in many cases,combine to precipitate antisocial behaviour.

The research on street children and the youth gang phenomenon in developing coun-tries has revealed that poverty may increase a child’s vulnerability to antisocial behaviour(e.g. street children, gang membership and criminal offending; Aderinto, 2000; Plummer,Mustafa, & El Hag Yousif, 2007; Olley, 2006). For instance, Tucker and Phogat (2009)found that most street children belonged to a lower socioeconomic class accompanied byextreme parental neglect and maltreatment. The effects of family poverty can also impedecognition and learning in children. Most vulnerable youths who later join gangs have poorlevels of education (Aderinto, 2000; Ebigbo, 1996) and five or more siblings (Tucker &Phogat, 2009). This larger family size may precipitate a greater risk of delinquency as aresult of inadequate parenting practices (Olley, 2006; Salaam & Brown, 2010). However,it should be noted that the presence of deficient social conditions among youths does notnecessarily suggest delinquency, due to a number of protective factors. Research has shownthat youths from families characterized by warm interpersonal relationships and effectiveparenting are likely to affiliate with non-criminal groups and non-violent peers (Henry,Tolan, & Gorman-Smith, 2001). The evidence also suggests that youths from families withhigher levels of parental warmth display lower levels of initial involvement in gang activity(Jones, 2008). In sum, protective factors can reduce the risky social conditions that canprompt involvement in youth gangs and later criminal offending, and these factors need tobe strengthened if gang involvement and criminal offending is to be reduced.

Methodology

Research design

The research received ethical endorsement from the University of Surrey Ethics andQuality Committee. Before the researcher travelled to Nigeria, a pilot study was conductedto identify where the gang members lived to pretest the adequacy of the questionnaire,and to determine the logistics for the researcher’s safety. Given the haphazard lifestyleof and difficulties associated with contacting the yandaba, the research design employedfor the current study was opportunistic. The system of opportunistic sampling (i.e. thenon-probability technique) is justified in this type of research because the often chaotic

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nature of Nigerian street life does not lend itself to systematic random sampling (e.g. seeAderinto, 2000; Morakinyo & Odejide, 2003; Olley, 2006).

Sampling

A total of 71 members of the gang participated in the present study, with an age range of13–27 years [mean = 18.73, standard deviation (SD) = 4.82] recruited from the Faggae(9; 12.7%), Sabon geri (13; 18.3%) and Panshekara (7; 9.9%) areas of Kano metropolis.Two prison yards were also visited to recruit members of the gang who were awaiting trialfor belonging to criminal gangs. The prisons visited were Goran Dutse (25; 35.2%) andCentral Prisons Kano (17; 23.9%). As stated earlier, opportunistic sampling was adoptedto recruit participants for the current study. The adoption of this sampling technique didnot affect the confidentiality and informed consent of the participants, as members of thegang recruited for the study were told:

� not to put their names on any of the pages of the questionnaire or make any marksthat might identify them;

� that their participation in the research was voluntary; and� that the return of a completed questionnaire constituted informed consent to

participate in the study.

Research instrument

The questionnaire adopted for the current study covered a range of topics, including per-sonal demographic characteristics, social conditions of the participants prior to and whenbecoming a gang member and questions about their forensic profile and criminal history,as follows:

� Personal demographic characteristics: to ensure that the researcher recruited a widevariety of the gang members, the participants were asked to state their age, gender,state of origin, highest educational achievement and family size.

� Social conditions variables: this scale measured the extent to which the respon-dents’ financial circumstances might be responsible for becoming a member of theyandaba. The items in this scale included a description of the family income beforejoining a gang, their main source of income, their patterns of living, their reasonsfor leaving school and whether they were once a member of the almajiri (streetchildren).

� Forensic profile: this scale contained questions on arrest history of the participants,the types of offence arrested for in the past 12 months and the participants’ previousconviction history.

Statistical analysis

Prior to the computation of the data, the responses were coded and then summed to createthree major indices to reduce the complexity of the data and so facilitate the analysis. Theindices were demographic variables, social conditions variables and forensic profiles ofthe participants. Odds ratio statistics were also computed to determine the risk estimate ofvarious social conditions (e.g. family income, family size and almajiri experience) to theyouth gang involvement and subsequent involvement in criminality.

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Results

Personal demographic characteristics

The participants recruited for the present study were all male, with half of them beingaged 18 years or younger. They had low levels of educational attainment, and almost afifth had had no formal education. More than a quarter had completed only Arabic and pri-mary school. Almost half the sample was of Kano State origin (49%), followed by Plateau(8.5%), Kaduna (7%), Katsina (7%) and Jigawa (7%). The overwhelming majority of theparticipants (95.8%) were from a large family size of five or more (see Table 1).

Table 2 shows the social conditions profile of the yandaba recruited for the cur-rent study. More than half the sample (56.3%) stated that they lived below subsistencelevel; 39.4% claimed that they were just managing; while 4.2% agreed that their familyincome was above the subsistence level. Various sources of income were given, pre-dominantly: assisting motorists to procure passengers (23.9%); commercial bike-riding(achaba) (18.3%); waste recycling (14.1%); roadside petroleum selling (12.7%); hustling(9.9%); guardsman (7.0%); and other sources (9.9%). Slightly more than half the sam-ple did not have any permanent accommodation (53.5%), and those with accommodationlived mainly in poor quality housing (46.5%) and a mixture of poor and good quality hous-ing (49.3%). Their reasons for not attending or leaving school were stated as: financial

Table 1. Sample characteristics of yandaba (n = 71).

Demographic variable Frequency %

Age group (years)13–17 31 43.718–22 20 28.223–27 20 28.2

Mean age = 18.7 SD = 4.82State of origin

Kano 35 49.3Plateau 6 8.5Kaduna 5 7.0Katsina 5 7.0Bauchi 3 4.2Borno 2 2.8Jigawa 5 7.0Lagos 1 1.4Kebbi 4 5.6Niger 5 7.0

Educational levels attainedNo formal education 14 19.7Arabic school 27 38.0Primary 22 31.0Junior secondary certificate 5 7.0Senior secondary certificate 3 4.2

Family size1–4 3 4.25–9 25 35.210–14 31 43.715–19 9 12.720 and above 3 4.2

Note: SD: standard deviation.

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Table 2. Social conditions profile of yandaba.

n = 71 %

Description of family incomeBelow subsistence 40 56.3Just enough 28 39.4Above subsistence 3 4.2

Source of incomeTouting/assisting motorists to procure passengers 17 23.9Commercial bike-riding (achaba) 13 18.3Waste recycling 10 14.1Roadside petroleum selling 9 12.7Hustling 7 9.9Guardsman 5 7.0∗Other sources 7 9.9

Current patterns of livingNo permanent accommodation 38 53.5Living in rented apartment 23 32.4Living with parents 10 14.1

Quality of neighbourhoodMostly poor quality housing 33 46.5Mixture of poor/good quality housing 35 49.3Mostly good quality housing 3 4.2

Reasons for leaving schoolsFinancial difficulty 46 64.8Parental decision 9 12.7Going into business 9 12.7Lack of zeal 7 9.9

AlmajiriOnce a member 47 66.2Non-member 24 33.8

Note: ∗Other sources of income include head loading, refuse packing, shoe cobbling, butchery, andkola nut trading.

difficulty (64.8%); parental decision (12.7%); going into business (12.7%); and a lack ofenthusiasm (9.9%). More than half the sample (56.3%) once belonged to almajiri (streetchildren).

Table 3 presents the forensic profile of yandaba who were recruited for the currentstudy. A substantial majority (93%) had a history of previous arrest. Offences allegedand arrested for in the past include: petty theft (26.8%); assault (19.7%); armed robbery(16.9%); narcotics (11.3%); police raiding (8.5%); and a combination of other offences(16.9%). Of those with a history of previous arrest, 77.5% were ex-inmates.

Odds ratios were used to determine the risk estimate of family income, family size andalmajiri experience to the youth gang involvement and subsequent involvement in crim-inality. The computed outcomes suggested statistically significant effects of large familysize, inadequate family income and almajiri experience on the youth gang involvement andcriminal offending among yandaba samples recruited for the current study (see Table 4).

Discussion

The descriptive analysis of the gang members indicated that the majority were male, agedbetween 13 and 27 years, with a mean age of 18.7 years. This finding was consistent with

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Table 3. Forensic profile of yandaba.

n = 71 %

Arrest historyEx-offender 66 93.0Non-offender 5 7.0Offence alleged and arrested for in the past 12 monthsPetty thefts 19 26.8Assault 14 19.7Armed robbery 12 16.9Narcotics 8 11.03Raiding/gang membership 6 8.5Others 2 16.9

Previous convictionEx-convict 55 77.5Non-convict 16 22.5

First convictionThefts 15 21.1Armed robbery 12 16.9Assault 10 14.1Narcotics 7 9.9∗Others 11 15.4

Note: ∗Other offences include conspiracy to defraud and other acquisitive crime.

Table 4. Risk estimates of social conditions on yandaba gang involvement and criminality.

95% Confidence interval

Variables Odds ratio value Lower Upper p

Family income (reference: previous conviction) 0.6 0.3 1.1 0.01∗Family income (reference: arrest history) 1.1 0.9 1.4 0.04∗Family size (reference: previous conviction) 1.1 0.9 1.2 0.02∗Family size (reference: arrest history) 0.8 0.3 2.2 0.05∗∗Almajiri experience (reference: previous conviction) 0.9 0.7 1.2 0.04∗Almajiri experience (reference: arrest history) 1.0 0.9 1.2 0.05∗

Note: ∗Statistically significant effect at the 0.05 level; ∗Almajiri describes the phenomenon of street childrenin the northern part of Nigeria.

other research, which found that the incidence and prevalence of violent and serious delin-quency peak during adolescence and early adulthood (Lowry, Sleet, Duncan, Powell, &Kolbe, 1995). However, the male domination of the yandaba should not be misconstruedas indicating that females are excluded from gang activities. There are a few female mem-bers of the yandaba, but male involvement in the gang’s activities outweighs that of femalesfor various reasons, one being that girls are rarely enrolled in Arabic education through theprocess of almajiri, which appears to be the major route to involvement in the yandabaphenomenon.

The educational levels attained by the participants revealed that few members of theyandaba might have had the opportunity of enrolling in formal education. In most cases,they do not progress beyond primary education before dropping out for various socioeco-nomic reasons. In fact, the majority of the participants in the current study had enrolledfor Arabic education through the process of almajiri before becoming involved in gang

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activities. Of similar importance is the finding that the majority of the research partic-ipants came from large families, due partly to the phenomenon of polygamous marriage,whereby the fathers practice polygamy and the mothers polyandry, arrangements which areoften characterized by marital disruption (Aderinto, 2000; Ebigbo, 1996; Olley, 2006). Itis, therefore, unsurprising to discover that these children are brought up mainly by relativesor guardians. Parental neglect is evident, and may also explain why most of the youths weredriven to the streets for economic survival.

Another important social condition that may serve as a risk factor for street youthsturning to gang membership is their pattern of living conditions. While a few members ofthe yandaba, who participated in the current study, were still residing with their parents,a significant number reside in clumsily constructed, congested settlements, known popu-larly as unguwa (wards or quarters), either individually or collectively. The implication ofresiding in such locations under such conditions and with no fixed abode is that the gangmembers are vulnerable to committing crimes, in which case it may be difficult for thelaw enforcement agents to track them down because of their lack of a specific address. Anexploration of the descriptive analysis of the forensic profile of the participants suggeststhat the majority of them admitted to having a history of arrest and conviction for vari-ous offences, including armed robbery, burglary and petty theft, conspiracy to defraud andother acquisitive-related crimes. This type of offence has implications for the participants’socioeconomic conditions.

Before concluding, a number of limitations in the current study should be acknowl-edged in order to take them into account for subsequent research. These limitations include:the reliance on self-report (with its attendant social bias); the cross-sectional nature ofthe data; the small number of participants; the lack of a control group; and the lack offemale gang members, which makes gender comparisons difficult. Notwithstanding theseand other limitations, the study raises several important issues related to the social con-ditions faced by impoverished youths in developing countries before they resort to gangmembership, which merit further, confirmatory research.

Policy implications

The policy implications of the present findings suggest that efforts should be directedtowards decreasing the number of vulnerable children and youths joining street gangs dueto the risks associated with economic hardship, inaccessible education and large familysize. The major task of providing increased economic resources lies with the governmentin terms of empowering people by focusing its efforts on employment, integrated ruraldevelopment and youth development. By intensifying the efforts in these areas, people,including youths, will be empowered to take advantage of these opportunities by creatingincentives that will embrace prosocial behaviour and shun antisocial activities that may sur-face due to a lack of empowerment programmes. In addition to providing comprehensiveeconomic resources, special attention must be paid to vulnerable groups (e.g. violent youthgangs, offenders) in terms of rehabilitation and reformation. These vulnerable individualsmust be treated as individuals who need help in terms of reformatory services other thanincarceration and punishment, which have been the hallmark of the criminal justice systemin the developing world.

It is also conceivable that there is a need to strengthen free and compulsory elementaryeducation. This will reduce the number of youths who drop out of school due to eco-nomic hardship and eventually join gangs to perpetrate antisocial activities. In additionto free and compulsory primary education, it may be important for the government to

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establish well-equipped model schools where both western and Islamic education will betaught as a credible alternative to almajiri schools for parents who might have ideologicalopposition to mainstream schools. Family planning campaigns may also be a necessaryantidote to youth gang involvement and criminality. In the absence of welfare packages inthe form of social welfare support from the government and the problem of large familysize, family planning campaigns are required to encourage parents to have smaller familiesfor whom they can care adequately. To say the least, the national policy on population fordevelopment, unity, progress and self-reliance (1988) in the country, which recommendsthat married couples should have a maximum of four children (Avong, 2000), should beencouraged by the government and all the stakeholders in the policy. If the policy were to beadhered to strictly by married couples, it would improve the standard of living and qualityof life, promote maternal and child health, achieve a lower rate of population growth andaddress questions of security of life and property posed by vulnerable youths and childrenjoining violent gangs.

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