by Musbau Rasak
Government at all levels have been advised to make religious and moral education compulsory subjects in primary and secondary schools in the country to put a stop to the frequent violent crimes and cultism among youths.
The chairman of the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) of Al-Furqan International Schools, Mr. Kamaldeen Kunle Akinola, gave this advice recently at the annual prize giving ceremony of the school which took place at Baleke Smith Mosque, Surulere.
Mr. Akinola noted that lack of religious and moral education in children has made them grow up to become armed robbers and cultists. "Children who are properly brought up in good Islamic and Christian backgrounds will always grow up to become good ambassadors of their parents and the community at large," he said.
The Managing Director of Demark Prints based in Mushin blamed parents and governments for the lack of moral standard in children. According to him, parents no longer care whether their children pray in the morning before going out. "All the parents are after is how to make money. They don't care if their children go to mosque and church or not," he said.
He stated further that the government had not helped matters through its negligence of religious and moral education. "Government is not interested in God, hence, its negligence of the religious aspect of education," he noted.
Mr. Akinola called on the government at all levels to go back to the basics. "Let's go back to God. We have detached ourselves from God all along and this is the cause of our problems," he said.He urged government to make religious and moral education compulsory at both primary and secondary levels, while also calling on government to assist private education institutions.