The immediate past Executive Secretary , Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria, (MUSWEN), Professor .Dawud Noibi, on Tuesday advocated incorporation of compulsory religious education into General Studies Programmes in higher institutions in Nigeria.
Speaking at the 10th Anniversary and Awards of Ar-riddoh International Islamic Institute held at House of Chiefs, Parliament Building, Oyo State Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan.Prof Noibi, declared that doing this will enhance breeding of students with the fear of God from schools.
Emphasizing that any form of knowledge that doesn’t have its root in God would be counter productive, Prof Noibi stated that such religious education in tertiary institutions should be made compulsory while it should be in forms of modules, which would be from first year till the final year.
“Nigeria is blessed with a lot of experts in different fields, the Godly ones were few, hence the need to groom people that would have the fear of God in their dealings with the belief that they would give account in the hereafter. No doubt, there are a lot of educated people, specialists in different fields but we are not where we ought to be, simply because there are a lot of selfishness, a lot of corruption and a lot of ego-worship,” he said.
The former MUSWEN Executive Secretary added, “agreed, God encouraged us to look for good thing of this life but not at the expense of the hereafter. There must be emphasis on the hereafter so that our lives here will be the best for ourselves and the communities at large.”
Speaking further, Prof Noibi urged parents to invest in Arabic education of their children the way they do to their western education as being experts in both forms of education would certainly be a blessing and assets to humanity and not a liability.
“There is need for us to bring up young ones who will bear in mind that they are accountable to God at the end of the day and who will therefore give service to the community, their families, and the nation.”
Proprietor of the institute, Ustaz MuhammadJamiu AbdulGafaar in his remarks said for one to be successful in life, three things are essential and they are faith, knowledge and good deeds, saying, the institute is more than Arabic centre as it accommodates other forms of education like, science, technology, ICT and vocational training.
” The institute was established in 2009 and it was meant to fill gaps that have been observed in existing Arabic and Islamic centres. The existing ones lay emphasis on Arabic programmes that is why their products become commercial bicycle riders for example after graduation. Ar-riddoh International Islamic Institute is all encompassing. There is a provision for Arabic classes, Islamic history, science, technology, ICT training, skills acquisition and professional training.It’s designed in such a way that after graduation, you will be occupied other than looking for jobs.”
Ustaz AbdulGafaar maintained yhat the programmes in the institute catered for different categories of people including children, youths, artisans, civil servants and elderly ones, adding that “majority of my students after graduation still continue to further their education even outside the country. Some are doing degrees in computer science, computer engineering and other science oriented courses apart from those in the fields of humanity.”
