Invest in secular education - Islamic NGOs told

Tamale, Nov. 9, GNA - Mr Yusif Adam Nanyama, Executive Director of the Centre for Islamic Development and Propagation (CIDA), an Islamic NGO has appealed to the Islamic NGOs to channel 70 per cent of their resources into the development of the education of Muslim students. He said Muslims, as a body would never develop until "we realise the importance of education," adding that both Islam and secular education needed to be taken seriously by Muslims.

Mr Nanyama made the appeal on the occasion to climax the holy month of Ramadan in Tamale on Saturday.

The occasion was on the theme: "The role of Islamic NGOs in ensuring violence free education".

Mr. Nanyama said it was for this reason that the organisation had been doing everything possible to support the education of Muslim youth and that Islamic religion was based on knowledge.

The Executive Director also asked Muslim students to stop indulging in acts of indiscipline and lawlessness and pay attention to their education.

Mr Adam Iddrisu, a representative of CAMFED/RAINS urged Muslim youth to exercise tolerance and respect the views of their opponents to ensure a violent free election in December.

He said violence in general should not be attributed to Muslim youth because, "It is a total contradiction of the principles of Islam, which represents peace."

Mr Iddrisu called on Muslim youth not to allow themselves to be used to perpetrate acts of violence by selfish politicians. He called on all Islamic NGOs to participate actively in ensuring free and fair elections, adding, "Without peace there cannot be any meaningful development."

Sheikh Iliyasu Imoro Imam, a tutor at the Tamale Secondary School appealed to politicians and their supporters to stop using inflammatory languages during their campaigns to ensure peace. He said political power is not a matter of life and death and the one who is eventually elected President becomes the leader of the whole nation but not a leader of a particular party or a section of the society.