Sani Inaugurates Inter-Religious Harmony Committee

John Shiklam in Kaduna

Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, has said that his administration will work with religious leaders to promote peace and development of the state.

The governor stated this yesterday at the inauguration of the Kaduna State Inter-Religious Harmony Committee, comprising Muslims and Christian leaders.

Sani called on religious leaders to support the government by preaching peace among their followers.

The governor, who noted that there cannot be peace and security when 80 per cent citizens are poor, disclosed that his administration would roll out social interventions to address the situation.

Sani said religious leaders will play key role in the implementation of the social interventions because of their closeness to the people at the grassroots.

“We are having problems. That is why I told you that there is poverty crisis in the rural areas, 80 per cent of our people there, are living below the poverty line. That is the fact of the matter.

“Last month, we started construction of 32 road across the state, most of which are in the rural areas.

“Again, next week, we will start building 100 schools to take care of our of school children in Kaduna State, because this is the way to address the problem of out of school children,” the governor said.

He lamented that the “Children of the poor who are supposed to be in the classroom are roaming the streets and we say we want to solve the problem of insecurity?

“It cannot happen. Therefore, we must take back to school or we forget it.”

Speaking further, Sani said, research has shown that, majority of the children could not go to school because of poverty.

He said: “People in the rural areas don’t send their children to school because they want them to go to farm or go to hawk.  So, if we don’t reduce the poverty rate from 80 per cent to at least 30 per cent in the next few years, we will never be able to address the problem of out of school children.

“We must revitalise the economy of the rural areas through job creation to end poverty, and that is the only way we can develop Kaduna State.

“We must work collectively with all stakeholders, including religious leaders to achieve this.”

The governor disclosed further that the state government will work with the religious leaders to generate data of orphans in the state to benefit from the 5,000 scholarship programme by Qatar Charity Foundation.

In their separate remarks, Rev, Joseph Hayab, Kaduna state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Chairman Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), Prof. Shefiu Abdullahi, said the cooperation of the government and religious leaders can promote peace and change the negative story about the state.