Include religious instruction in schools’ curricula, UI don tells policymakers

A professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Lateef Abbas, has called on policymakers to include religious instruction in schools’ curricula to ensure moral education.

Professor Abbas also recommended that merit be restored in appointments, saying that lack of merit had made corruption difficult to eradicate.

The don made these recommendations while delivering the 557th inaugural lecture of the University of Ibadan on behalf of the Faculty of Arts. The lecture was entitled ‘Religious Intolerance: Bane of Nigerian Nationhood’.

Professor Abbas stated that religious crisis in the nation required the combined efforts of all stakeholders to stop.

He said the crisis was a consequence of decades of religious discrimination in schools and workplaces under the guise of evangelising, adding that religious freedom should be protected in all educational institutions and workplaces.

According to Professor Abbas, it is the design of God that human beings belong to different religious persuasions of their choice.

He said what is imperative is for the people to learn to live together in a society and promote peace.

The volatile nature of religion may sometimes cause disagreement that could result in crisis, the don said.

He stated that such is possible where people are ignorant of the nature and teachings of religion.

He, therefore, called on the leaders of the various faiths to come together and dialogue in accordance with the recommendations of the Qur’an and the Bible which he described as the holiest and the commonest divinely revealed books to humanity, given the population of adherents of both Islam and Christianity.

He advised that such dialogue should not be limited to the leadership of the two religions but rather made to cover all levels of human endeavour.

Professor Abbas noted that with sincerity of purpose, the required commitment and support from the government, the goal of religious tolerance might be achieved in no distant future.

He said the Federal Government had done well with the establishment of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council with equal representation of Christianity and Islam to stem the incessant ethnoreligious crisis witnessed in Nigeria in the past.

He said this was an avenue to bring the two together for interaction and promote understanding among the leadership and their followers as well as lay the foundation for sustainable peace and religious harmony in the country.

Professor Abbas advised the council to constantly issue joint statements to correct the ills of the society and encourage a religious society where equity and fairness will reign supreme and where the tide of brigandage will be stemmed, if not eradicated.

The inaugural lecture was the seventh in the series of inaugural lectures for the 2023/2024 academic session.

Saheed Salawu