LAGOS – Muslim leaders are accusing authorities in the Christian-majority southern states of intentionally undermining Arabic and Islamic teaching in public schools by faking a teacher scarcity.
“Most public schools in the South-West lack teachers of Islamic Religious Knowledge (IRK) though graduates of this subject roam the streets in search of jobs,” Professor Lakin Akintola, the coordinator of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), told IslamOnline.net.
“We have every reason to believe that those charged with the responsibility of recruiting teachers have conspired with certain elements to create an artificial scarcity of IRK teachers with a view to depriving Muslim children access to Islamic education.”
Nigeria, officially a secular state, is divided between a Muslim north and a Christian south.
But the Muslim population is equally well pronounced in the Southwestern states of Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti.
Most of these states have returned schools to the missionaries, despite protests from local Muslims.
More than 70 percent of such public schools are owned by Christian missions, according to data obtained from the Ministry of Education.
Visits by IOL correspondent to 10 public secondary schools in Lagos and two each in of Ogun and Oyo states showed there were no IRK teachers.
The Lagos Baptist Secondary School, a public institution in Lagos state, last had substantive IRK teacher in 2002, according to students.
“But the school has the Christian Religious Knowledge (CRK) teachers,” one said, requesting anonymity.
* Damaging
Hassan Ma’ruf, a Ph.D student at the University of Ibadan and prominent member of the Muslim Student Society of Nigeria (MSSN) who lives in Osun state, confirms the problem.
“I have challenged several school authorities on this issue and their response was not convincing,” he told IOL.
“The truth is, there is systemic eradication of Islamic studies from public schools and the consequences will be dire.”
But the authorities denied pursuing such a policy.
“I can assure you that whatever lapse noticed in the number of teachers in the employment of government is not to phase out any subject, much less subjects that promote religious understanding,” said Tunji Bakare, an official with the Lagos State Ministry of Education.
“We will look at these allegations to see whether they are true. But I insist that this ministry has always employed teachers to teach all subjects. We have just employed some. But again, we can only employ those who apply. And we employ based on request from schools which specify their need.”
Akintola, a professor of Islamic studies at the Lagos State University and renowned preacher, remains very skeptical.
“MURIC asserts that such de-Islamisation of Muslim children not only robs them of Islamic education but also deprives them of their Islamic culture and Muslim identity.”
He sounded the alarm that the trend would have very serious repercussions.
“We warn that this is a double edged sword. It is responsible for the dangerous misinterpretations and radicalization witnessed in recent times among Muslims.
In July, Boko Haram, a militant group opposed to anything modeled after the West, went on rampage in three states attacking police stations and other facilities.
A massive security operation resulted in the killing of hundreds of militants including their leader Mohammed Yusuf and alleged financiers.
“It is the breeding ground for fanaticism and religious violence,” warned professor Akintola.
“We therefore charge the governments of the South-Western states to reverse it without any delay.”
Source: IslamOnline
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