From Maiharaji Altine
A prominent Islamic Scholar in Zamfara state, Dr. Mohammed Bello Janbako has called on the state government to look into the possibility of paying the NECO and WAEC fees to enable the indigenous students proceed to high institutions.
Janbako who made the call during the closure of this year’s Ramadan Tafsir at Imam Malik Jumuat mosque Damba Gusau said, the none payment of the NECO and WAEC fees has seriously affected the education of the students in the state who were mostly from poor families.
According to Janbako many students who have finished their secondary education many years ago were currently in their homes as they could not go to higher institutions due to none payment of NECO and WAEC fees by the state government.
He maintained that, the number of Zamfara state indigenes currently studying in universities and other tertiary institutions of leaning has reduced drastically because only few parents could afford to pay the NECO and WAEC fees for their children.
According to him, the state could not fill its quota in all the tertiary institutions in the country because of the inability of the state government to settle the fees for many years.
“He said, “I want to use this opportunity to call on the state government to please kindly do the needful and pay the NECO and WAEC fees that have not been paid over the years”.
“Our students have been stranded as they cannot proceed to high institutions because of the none payment of NECO and WAEC fees”.
“This is a serious problem to the society because those students who could not further their education would in the near future become a serious problem to the society”.
The cleric also appealed to politicians and wealthy individuals in the state to assist the needy in their respective societies particularly the youths.
He stressed that, politicians and wealthy individuals have greater role to play in nation building, calling on them to use their wealth and positions to build their people and the religion of Islam.
Janbako also used the occasion to appeal to parents and guardians to take proper care of their wards.
He added that, “Parents and guardians will be asked by God in the world hereafter on how they look after their wards”.
Janbako however expressed disgust on the teeming youths who have been wasting their time following politicians instead of fending for themselves.
He declared that, the youths were the backbone of any nation, calling on them to wake up and find ways of becoming useful in the society.
He maintained that it was high time for the youths to look for ways on how to become self reliant and stop wasting their time following politicians who would only use them during campaign rallies.
He called on them to look for money and go back to school since the government is no longer paying for the scholarship.
He charged the youths to strive hard to become useful members of the society, stressing that, “Your society will be proud of you if you are contributing to its development”.
Janbako also drew the attention of Islamic clerics to preach peace and unity among the Muslim Ummah, calling on them to fear God and avoid using their positions to cause chaos, disaffection and disunity in the country.
“As spiritual leaders, you are supposed to tell the truth wherever you find yourselves”.
” I want to use this medium to call on our Islamic clerics who are close to the government to always tell them the truth wherever you see anything wrong”.
“God will hold you responsible in the world hereafter if you fail to tell the government the truth”.
“You should also try as much as you can to propagate Islam in the rural areas where people are living in total ignorance”.
