Minister: Groups endorse El Rufai’s nomination

By Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

A coalition of Islamic clerics and organisations in Kaduna state has described Malam Nasir El Rufai as the Lion of the North who has done his best to improve Qur’anic education as governor.

Speaking on behalf of 105 Islamic Organisations and 87 Qur’anic schools on Tuesday, Barrister Imam Shamwilu Muhammad Nasir, further asked the senate to confirm El Rufai as Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Imam Shamwilu was reacting to the call by a coalition of Qur’anic Reciters, Memorisers and Learners in Bauchi state, which called on President Bola Tinubu to remove El Rufai’s name from his ministerial list.

The spokesman said that the Bauchi clerics spoke out of ignorance because they are not living in Kaduna and so they are not privy to what El Rufai has done to enhance Qur’anic education.

Quoting from the Qur’an, Imam Shamwilu reminded them that if an allegation is brought before them, they should verify before taking a stand on the matter.

Imam Shamwilu said that El Rufai what El Rufai did to enhance Quránic education is unprecedented in the history of Nigeria, recalling that he set up a committee to mainstream Quránic education.

According to him, the committee fashioned out a curriculum to enable Alaramas or Islamic clerics who have memorised the Qurán, to obtain a National Certificate of Education (NCE) certificates after two or three years of studying some secular subjects.

The spokesman recalled that stakeholders of the education sector, including Kaduna State Universal Basic Education Board, Kaduna State Schools Quality Assurance Authority, National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies as well as the National Commission for Colleges of Education to develop a suitable curriculum for this programme.

According to him, the curriculum has been designed in such a way that Islamic clerics can be gainfully employed in any government agency and even to study up to degree and postgraduate levels.

Imam Shamwilu who said that El Rufai will be the best minister in Nigeria when confirmed because of his innovation and proactiveness, pointed out that other states have started adopting the curriculum.