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RR RUEHBC RUEHDBU RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHLH RUEHPA RUEHPW RUEHROV
DE RUEHNM #0728/01 1441331
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 241331Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY NIAMEY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3515
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0532
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEPGBA/CDR USEUCOM INTEL VAIHINGEN GE//ECJ2/ECJ3/ECJ5//
RUEHTRO/AMEMBASSY TRIPOLI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 NIAMEY 000728 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AIDAC 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PASS TO USAID FOR AMARTIN AND KTOWERS 
ACCRA PASS TO WARP 
PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHER 
EUCOM FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/23/2017 
TAGS: EAID PINR SCUL SOCI PGOV PREL PTER NG
SUBJECT: NIGER: KORANIC SCHOOLS CALL FOR HELP 
 
REFS: A. 06 NIAMEY 1193 
      ¶B. 06 NIAMEY 746 
      ¶C. NIAMEY 158 
      ¶D. NIAMEY 713 
 
NIAMEY 00000728  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
Classified By: POLITICAL OFFICER ZACH HARKENRIDER FOR REASON 1.4 (D) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (C) During recent travel across southern Niger, Poloff 
interacted with traditional and religious leaders and 
religious educators. In each instance, they were concerned by 
the quality and diversity of instruction they were able to 
offer in their madrassas. Religious leaders felt that many 
Nigerien madrassas lacked the resources -- though not the 
will -- to offer vocational, health, and life-skills 
instruction that would enable their graduates to be 
economically and socially viable members of their 
communities. Given madrassas' central role in Nigerien 
education, improving their quality is a goal of the 
Government of Niger (GON) and should be a goal of the USG. 
Going beyond education, mainstream clerics noted that the 
fundamentalist Izala sect could offer its parishioners more 
material benefits and assistance than the traditional orders 
could, and that this is an important factor in determining 
the allegiance of many Muslims in the world's least developed 
country. These discussions suggest that USG development 
interventions can (and should) help to meet a significant 
demand for improved madrassa education. We would thereby 
bolster Niger's traditional, moderate Islamic leadership and 
help madrassa students integrate economically and socially. 
END SUMMARY 
 
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NIGERIEN ISLAM AND THE MADRASSA 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) During recent travel to the southern Nigerien 
population centers of Zinder, Maradi, and Birni N'Konni, 
Poloff interacted with a number of Imams, Islamic educators, 
and traditional chiefs. (In Niger the latter embody both 
spiritual and temporal power). Like most Nigerien Muslims, 
our interlocutors were traditional Sufis, usually of the 
Tidjaniya or Quadiriyya brotherhoods. While conservative, 
these leaders practice a syncretistic version of Sunni Islam 
that mixes African traditions with Koranic and scriptural 
guidance (reftel A). While this makes their version of Islam 
more socially conservative in some instances, it also seems 
to increase tolerance for ambiguity and other approaches to 
faith. It therefore seems fair to describe them both as 
"traditional" and "moderate," as opposed to "fundamentalist," 
or "textualist" -- terms which suggest strict Koranic 
interpretation. Most of the clerics Poloff met had positive 
things to say about Christians and the west; most were 
involved in local interfaith dialogue efforts; most respected 
the Government of Niger (GON)'s status as a 
"non-confessional" (as distinct from "secular") state. 
 
¶3. (C) None of that is true of Niger's small but visible 
Izala community. A fundamentalist school prominent in the 
Shari'a states of northern Nigeria, Izala receives 
substantial funding from Middle Eastern sources that enables 
the sect to punch above its weight in mosque construction, 
charity and social services, and proselytization. Izalists 
use financial largesse and their associations with Middle 
Eastern and Nigerian wealth to attract parishioners. Mission 
contacts note that many otherwise moderate Nigeriens are 
drawn to Izala by virtue of its perceived ability to meet 
their economic and material needs. While Izala's allure may 
be more financial than theological, the former attraction is 
potent in the world's least developed country. Izalists are 
regarded by traditional Nigerien Muslims as "troublemakers" 
who absent themselves from community life and African 
traditions, practice veiling and cloistering of women, and 
have little tolerance for other Muslims -- let alone members 
of other faiths. 
 
¶4. (C) Interestingly, while moderate Muslim contacts were 
 
NIAMEY 00000728  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
concerned with Izala's material resources, they were less 
concerned by its role in educating the young. Most Nigerien 
madrassa students still attend traditional sects' schools and 
it seems that Izalist leaders are currently more interested 
in winning adult converts than in educating the next 
generation. When speaking of education, Poloff's 
interlocutors were not concerned with competition with the 
Izalists (indeed there is some evidence that the two groups 
share concerns over Koranic education), but with their 
students' ability to get real jobs after graduation. Madrassa 
education is not a battlefield between tradition and 
fundamentalism, but it is perhaps a tool through which 
traditional sects and clergy can be strengthened. Madrassa 
education matters in Niger. While attendance at modern, 
secular, government schools is mandatory, weak enforcement of 
school truancy laws and a historical reluctance on the part 
of parents (particularly Hausas) to send their children to 
modern schools leaves many students entirely to the 
madrassas. Most Nigerien parents are comfortable with the 
idea of madrassa education. Attendance at madrassas tends to 
be enforced by familial and social pressure in a way that 
public school attendance is not. 
 
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WHAT MADRASSA EDUCATORS WANT... 
------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) Poloff asked what sort of education madrassa educators 
would need to offer to meet their communities' needs. What, 
in fact, would they like to offer, if they had additional 
means at their disposal? Imam Mounirou Issoufou of Zinder 
offered some answers. Issoufou and his madrassa are 
representative of traditional Islamic education in Niger. His 
madrassa teaches Koranic recitation and memorization to 314 
students, ranging in age from three to twenty. Perhaps 
fifteen or twenty percent of these students also attend 
government schools during the day, and only come to the Imam 
in the evenings at the behest of their families. But for most 
of these students, this free madrassa is their only school. 
The Imam's students are mostly from working and lower-middle 
class families in Zinder city, though a smaller number are 
borders from the surrounding countryside. Yet, Nigerien 
parents of all classes regard this form of Islamic education 
as at least a necessary supplement to the liberal western 
education dispensed in the government schools. Most Nigeriens 
will therefore undertake several years of supplementary 
Koranic studies during their school years. Mounirou's own 
education was entirely at the hands of his father, a Koranic 
teacher of great repute in Zinder. The Imam is a Tidjaniya 
cleric. This brotherhood is dominant in Zinder, claiming the 
allegiance of the Sultan of Zinder and his court, eighty 
percent of the local clergy, and seven out of eleven 
principal mosques. 
 
¶6. (C) Imam Mounirou's concerns were both personal and 
reflective of broader community anxieties. His students' 
futures are in question. Even those who also attend 
government schools are subject to an overly formal, 
economically irrelevant French curriculum little changed 
since independence. The quality of teaching in public schools 
is abysmal and most students pass because their parents can 
afford to pay for private tutoring or for outright bribes to 
teachers (reftels B, C). For his part, Mounirou cannot do 
much more for the children, but he would like to. Stressing 
the need for vocational rather than classical-liberal 
education, he ticked off a list of skills that schools like 
his wish to impart: health and sanitation training; and, job 
skills like farming, livestock raising, masonry, and 
tailoring. He noted that each of these trades has an 
association in Zinder that could partner with the madrassas 
to provide training. He was confident that students with 
those skills could find steady employment. 
 
¶7. (C) Zinder Malam (Islamic teacher) Bachir Abba is a 
"modern marabout." In dress, language (French), age, and 
preoccupations, he cuts a very different figure from the 
other clergy and traditional leaders Poloff met. Yet, he 
offers the same advice with respect to the needs of Koranic 
students. A part-time Koranic teacher and construction 
contractor, he is also the Secretary General of the Zinder 
 
NIAMEY 00000728  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
based "Union des Ecoles Koranique de Niger." Abba works with 
all sects -- even the Izalists -- on questions of Koranic 
education. He argued that, whatever their differences were in 
other areas, Izalists and traditional Muslims worked well 
enough together on issues of education, and had similar 
perspectives as to students' needs. He described three types 
of Nigerien religious school: modern madrassas, traditional 
Koranic schools, and "Lycees Franco-Arabe," or Franco-Arabic 
high schools. A modern madrassa has real classrooms and a 
broad curriculum that offers education in geography, science, 
religion, and philosophy etc. as well as Koranic studies. The 
medium of instruction is French or Arabic, though local 
languages like Hausa prevail at the lower grade levels. It is 
intended to offer after-hours instruction to public school 
students who seek Islamic education. However, like its 
traditional counterpart, the modern madrassa has many 
students who do not attend "mandatory" GON schools at all. 
Lycees Franco-Arabe are GON schools, but on a compromise 
model. They provide children from more conservative families 
with religious and Arabic language instruction in addition to 
French and a full modern curriculum. Traditional Koranic 
schools, which Abba described as "the greatest plague on 
Koranic schools in Zinder," are often outdoors and subject to 
the elements. Teachers are Imams like Issoufou, perhaps 
assisted by some older students or "disciples." Traditional 
madrassas' offerings are limited to Koranic and religious 
teaching and perhaps some religious philosophy. Their medium 
of instruction is Hausa, with limited exposure to Arabic 
through Koranic memorization. 
 
¶8. (C) Abba noted that the problems facing madrassa students 
were identical to those facing Nigerien students in general. 
Everyone needs to escape from sclerotic and economically 
irrelevant curricula -- whether religious or secular. Young 
people need job training that can offer them the prospect of 
post-graduate employment. Abba offered specifics similar to 
those of Imam Issoufou. He noted that trade associations and 
the GON-run "Nigertec" vocational training institutes could 
partner with madrassas to offer vocational training. Students 
should learn carpentry, modern construction techniques, 
tailoring, metal working, small engine repair, craft 
production, and how to run small businesses. Modern farming 
and animal husbandry techniques and animal purchase / re-sale 
cooperatives also made his list. When Poloff suggested 
civics, literacy, and health / hygiene Abba agreed 
enthusiastically. These are the ideas that have local support. 
 
¶9. (SBU) The foregoing would hardly qualify as a classical 
liberal education, but the failure of French-derived modern 
education to qualify Nigeriens for the sort of jobs their 
economy generates is a subject of considerable frustration in 
the country. In a May 7 meeting with a youth NGO "Club 
Republicain" in Birni N'Konni, young, well educated Nigeriens 
complained that there were as many as 11,000 unemployed 
university graduates in the country. Gone are the days when a 
guaranteed job in the civil service or a parastatal company 
awaited any graduate of the national university. Not only has 
the quality of instruction there, as in the public schools, 
plummeted in the last twenty years, post-grad job prospects 
have taken a dive too, thanks to the GON's virtual bankruptcy 
during the 1990s and the austerity measures that it produced. 
The definition of "success" for Nigerien youth has changed to 
reflect this new reality. A successful role model is no 
longer the well educated, Francophone civil servant or 
teacher; it is, rather, the person who can engage in commerce 
or a trade and support their family. That is the position to 
which Issoufou's students aspire. In light of the deep 
problems facing public education and the economy's inability 
to produce "knowledge sector" jobs, such aspirations are 
realistic. 
 
¶10. (C) Similar views were expressed in less detail in 
Poloff's meetings with other religious and traditional 
leaders. Zinder Alkali (Islamic judge) Sani Falalou and Imam 
Souley, leaders of the region's Quadiriyya community, noted 
the need for more modern agricultural training and 
technology. Maradi-based traditional Province Chief Ali Zaki 
stressed that students and young Nigeriens generally need 
professional training. He noted that even high school and 
university alumni were often unemployed and unable to earn a 
 
NIAMEY 00000728  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
living. The GON itself has acknowledged the need for a more 
diverse and job-oriented madrassa curriculum. Modernization 
of madrassa curricula is one of the priorities of the newly 
created Ministry of Religious Affairs (reftel D), and the GON 
is likely to approach donors and seek their support. NOTE: 
UNICEF has already launched a pilot program to stress hygiene 
and health education in some Nigerien madrassas. END NOTE 
With Niger's government and traditional clerical 
establishment ready to reform madrassa education, room exists 
for meaningful USG intervention. 
 
---------------------------- 
COMMENT:...AND WHY WE SHOULD 
GIVE IT TO THEM 
---------------------------- 
 
¶11. (C) At the end of our session, Poloff asked Imam Mounirou 
Issoufou if he had any questions for us. He noted that 
Izalists had tried to win him over by offering him cars and 
materials, but he refused. He argued that the traditional 
brotherhoods can offer young people a more intellectually and 
spiritually compelling vision than the Izalists; one 
consonant with their African heritage. They cannot, however, 
match the Izalists' dollars and offers of material support. 
He then asked Poloff why the USG doesn't help moderates to 
fight against these extremist tendencies. 
 
¶12. (C) The Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Partnership 
(TSCTP)'s mission is to lessen  support for extremist 
ideologies like Izala and to address some of the causes of 
youth alienation that contribute to their allure. TSCTP 
funded youth centers in Maradi and the Agadez region have had 
some notable successes in the realm of job training and 
economic integration for at-risk youth. (The local-hire 
Maradi youth center manager noted in a conversation with 
AIDoff that "if the United States didn't fund this '(youth 
center)' the Izalists would have.") Youth centers are also a 
way to meet madrassa students' and educators' needs, while 
bolstering Islamic moderates' position and answering the 
GON's anticipated call for donor support for religious 
education reform. As TSCTP grows, the youth center concept 
will expand to other Nigerien cities, and should focus on 
madrassa students and instructors. NOTE: The NGO CARE, which 
manages the Maradi youth center project, has drafted plans 
for an expanded program in both Maradi and Zinder, with a 
focus on madrassa students. CARE also has a one-year grant 
from Danish Cooperation (DANIDA) for a youth center type 
pilot activity in Zinder. Therefore, some relevant 
infrastructure and experience are already in place. END NOTE 
 
¶13. (C) If TSCTP projects involve traditional clergy and 
chiefs, their madrassas and their parishioners -- not only as 
implementation partners and beneficiaries but as program 
designers, consultants and "public faces" -- they will help 
these moderates to match the allure of Izala. Projects that 
give moderate clergy and traditional chiefs a meaningful role 
in planning and execution at every stage will also contribute 
to local ownership, correctly identify local needs, and 
reinforce Sufi authorities' role in cities where Izala has 
won converts through largesse. This investment is also 
scaleable. Full-scale youth centers on the Maradi / Agadez 
model cost over $1 million each. Micro-scholarships for 
madrassa students to attend Nigertec classes, or grants to 
local professional associations to underwrite their training 
of madrassa students are also options. No matter how 
employed, TSCTP madrassa projects that partner with 
traditional clergy and chiefs will enable us to meet Imam 
Issoufou's call for development "deliverables" akin to those 
Izala can offer by virtue of its Middle Eastern money. END 
COMMENT 
 
MINIMIZED CONSIDERED 
 
ALLEN