VC condemns sectarian violence

The Vice Chancellor of Al-Hikmah University of Ilorin, Professor Taofeek Ibrahim, has taken a swipe at some Nigerian religious leaders accusing them of allegedly shunning moral teachings for mundane acquisition.

Ibrahim who spoke with reporters shortly after the ceremonies marking the 12th matriculation ceremony of the University in Ilorin canvassed legal actions against culprits of religious crisis in Nigeria to serve as deterrence to persons of like minds.

Besides, he said educational institutions should inculcate serious moral teachings in their academic modules just as he condemned stolen funds from public treasury that are brought into either church or mosque by some Nigerian public office holders.

The Vice Chancellor, while ruing continuous rise without a corresponding space in the number of candidates seeking admission into the existing public Universities in the country, said 504 students matriculated at the event. The breakdown include; 34 from Faculty of Education, 107 from Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 82 from Faculty of Management Sciences, 222 from Faculty of Natural Science and 59 from Faculty of Law.

The Don said “religion had been for development and peace over the centuries but it is those that show themselves as religious but who are not actually religious that are causing the problems for selfish reasons causing all the troubles and massacre that we are witnessing today in Nigeria.

“When you look into the history of America and Europe you will appreciate the role of the church in the building such nations. Similarly in the Muslim world where you find relative peace, it is the contributions of Islam. In fact, it is when we go away from the tenets of these religions that we get into further problems.”

He added, “whether Muslim or Christian, the problem is the people taking an advantage of issues to distort the role that religion should play. If we do not punish the perpetrators of religious disturbances in Nigeria, people masquerading under religion would continue in their terrorism acts but I don’t think we should sustain that as a nation.

“Therefore the perpetrators of religious crises must face the consequences of their actions. Our religious leaders have a lot of role to perform here. Where you continue to preach and eulogise and sustain the issues of materialism then we can’t successfully introduce moral lessons.