Kufuor promises Muslims quality education

President John Agyekum Kufuor on Monday assured Muslims that the government would do its best to ensure formal and good quality education in their communities.

He said most of the problems associated with many Muslim communities, such as poor health, acute youth unemployment and overflowing population are daunting, but can be solved through higher levels of education.He was addressing a large congregation of Muslims, including Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama, who defied an early morning rain to observe this year's Eid ul Adha, the Muslim festival of sacrifice.

President Kufuor said a study carried out last year by the University of Ghana showed that only three per cent of the student population is Muslim.He said the government has made the development of good quality education a priority, which will be the theme of this year's independence celebration and appealed to Ghanaians to make sacrifices to realise the goal.

The President praised Ghanaians for the several sacrifices they have made since independence 44 years ago and said the challenges facing the nation would require more sacrifices in the months ahead.He said previous leaders did their best, but some of the problems still remain unsolved, and a few are getting worse.

President Kufuor praised Ghanaians for religious harmony and political tolerance and expressed the hope that these would continue in the humble and caring spirit of the Prophet Mohammed.

Delivering the sermon, Sheikh Osman Nuhu Shiributu, National Chief Imam, said the festival should remind Muslims to renew their resolve to Allah and submit themselves to his service and that of mankind.

He said mankind should adopt the sacrificial spirit and avoid egoistic and selfish desires in obedience to the divine commandments of Allah.

Ghanaians, he said, must also devote themselves selflessly to the cause of national wellbeing, progress and development.

In a welcoming address, Alhaji Gado Mohammed, a former Chairman of the Cocoa Marketing Company, said the significance of the festival lies in the need for all Muslims to learn and be ready to make sacrifices for the common good of society so that peace and harmony can prevail.

He said: "unless we have love, compassion, respect and mutual understanding for one another there will be no peace and stability. There will be conflict and great will be the suffering thereof."He urged the government to consider Muslims in its appointments to government boards, institutions, the Foreign Service and for national awards in the interest of ethnic and religious balance.

Sheikh Osman Nuhu Shiributu led the congregation to slaughter a ram and a cow to signify the sacrifice.

The Muslim observance of the Eid ul Adha ritual is rooted in the Biblical and Koran account of God's call on Abraham to offer his son Isaac, to him as sacrifice.

Just before Abraham would slaughter his son, God intervened and miraculously provided a ram, which Abraham used, for the sacrifice.

The account says that Abraham was highly favoured and blessed for his unwavering faith and he became a patriarch to many nations.

Christians, Muslims and Jews hold in high esteem the Patriarch Abraham.Captain Sheikh Seidu Adam, Chief Imam of the Ghana Armed Forces, urged all Muslims to emulate the virtues of the Eid-ul Adha festival by learning to co-exit with their neighbours.

"Bury all differences and let pure love be shown since the holy Koran gives precedence to the unity of mankind irrespective of religion, race and colour," he said in a sermon at the Burma camp Mosque.''By pursuing this noble objective, they (Muslims) are fulfilling a cardinal injunction in the Islamic Faith," he said.

Sheikh Adam said the time has come for Ghanaians to offer a little sacrifice to augment the efforts the new government is making to rebuild the nation.

Lieutenant-General J. H. Smith, Army Commander, said Eid ul Adha is an occasion that calls for the renewal of commitment to peace.He said it also calls for virtues such as loyalty, professionalism and self-discipline, which are the goals and aspirations of professional soldiers