By Sam Eyoboka
NIGERIAN Christians yesterday welcomed the news of the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, directing the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council to make the Christian Religious Knowledge and the Islamic Religious Knowledge distinctive subjects in the basic education curriculum.

Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo, the Minister of Education Adamu Adamu

The Christians who had been at daggers drawn with the Federal Government over the controversial merger of the two subjects to be known as Religion and National Values without the input of stakeholders from the Christian community, yesterday described the new development as a temporary victory. They however submitted that a lot still needs to be done

According to the National President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Rev. Samson Olasupo Ayokunle, who spoke through  his media aide, Mr. Bayo Oladejo, “beyond the separation of the two subjects now, there is still need for Government to call for the input of CAN and JNI to rub minds on such sensitive issues like religion. There is a need for Government to organise a workshop, so that all the stakeholders could make their contribution to arrive at a consensus. We have some text books that are currently in use but bear no relevance to the development of the nation because they are garbage materials to say the least.

“Government has taken the first step but there’s need for them to go the whole hug to review the entire curriclum and the things they teach our children. We should get scholars to brainstorm with stakeholders on some of our textbooks,” he noted.

According to the CAN president, the other thing the Federal Government must address is that, of all the 19 states in the North, more than 15 of them have no CRK teachers. “Even if we agree that CRK should stand on its own, who will teach the CRK when state governments refuse to recruit teachers that can handle the subject?

“In Niger State, for instance, during the Babangida Aliyu administration, there were no CRK teachers and CAN in the state recruited teachers and submitted the list to the state governor, but he told the CAN leadership that he had no money to pay them.

“The same thing is happening in Sokoto, Kebbi, Jigawa, Borno, Bauchi where CRK is not allowed in their schools because there are no teachers to teach the subject. So, in addition to what has been done, the Federal Government should take an additional step to make the states to employ teachers for this subject,” he prayed.

Ayokunle further argued that since the basic education derives its funding from the centre, the Federal Government should direct the states in the North to recruit CRK teachers and in the same vein direct the states in the South to recruit IRK teachers to balance the equation.

He commended the Federal Government for reacting swiftly to their demand saying “it shows that we have a listening government. Religion is a very sensitive matter which is personal to every individual. Every right thinking Nigerian who read the new curriculum knows that it represented a death trap for the country. It’s absurd if at the age of four or five years you are asking a child how to masturbate; you can’t call that a religious curriculum. Or you are teaching a primary school boy or girl, if you want to change your religion, your parents have no right to stop you. You can’t tell me that that is a good curriculum”.

The CAN Secretary-General, Rev. Musa Asake, in his own reaction, also expressed happiness, saying: “We are so thankful to the Federal Government that has given a listening ear to the cry of the people and have taken an action to that which was going to destroy our togetherness.

“We thank God and the Federal Government. We pray that they will continue to have the wisdom to lead us and when controversial and difficult issues like this come up that are capable of dividing us, they will be able to take actions as they have done”.

The President of Nigerian Christian Graduates Forum, Prof. Charles Adeyinka Adisa who last week made a presentation to the Senate president on the vexed issue, also thanked God, adding that it was not yet uhuru as the battle was still very much ahead.

“We still have so many areas we need to cover. We have scheduled a meeting with the National Universities Commission, NUC, for Tuesday over the compulsory Arabic language for students studying certain courses and the issue of state governments that will not employ teachers for Christian Religious Studies.

“That’s another area we want to bring before the National Assembly. So there is still a lot of grounds to cover but we are grateful to God that they have done what we have been agitating for in the last one year,” Prof. Adisa added.

In a telephone interview, the National President of PFN, Rev. Felix Omobude expressed gratitude to God insisting that PFN would not stop until all its demands are fully met.

“The point that PFN made on the issue was that we want to see a complete reversal of the entire Programme back to what it used to be. We are not opposed to the Federal Government introducing national values, what we are saying is that Christian Religious Knowledge should stand on its own and that remains our stand.

“I commend the National Assembly for the efforts it has made and I will want to see their resolution being actualised,” he pleaded.

According to the PFN helmsman, the world is a dynamic place which is subject to changes and if Government feels there is need for them to make more input and add some other things that will add value to our education curriculum, “they should invite all important stakeholders so we can all rub minds. Nigeria belongs to all of us. We are of the view that if we return to staus quo, the issue of NUC and the imposition of compulsory Arabic Studies would have been taken care of,” he stressed.