Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti
Muslim women under the auspices of the Nasrul-Lahi-l-Fatih(NASFAT) have charged the federal government to make huge investment in job creation and technological innovation to tackle cases of kidnapping, killings and drug abuse being perpetrated by youths.
NASFAT identified unemployment and poor technological innovation for the upsurge of crime in the country, calling on government to have a rethink and adopt the right policies to bail the nation out of present quagmire.
The faith- based body said these in Ado Ekiti yesterday, at the opening of its three-day 7th biennial Women’s conference with the theme: “Intentional Parenting: The How’s of Raising Resilient Muslim Children Against All Odds.”
Addressing the journalists, NASFAT National Women Affairs Secretary, Mrs. Suweebah Kupolati said:
“Women and children are always at the receiving end of drug abuse, kidnapping and killings and we should all be worried.
“We all know that this government had done well in the area of insecurity, but the bulk of this problem is as a result of unemployment. Government must provide jobs for our youths to reduce drug abuse and kidnapping.
“NASFAT has been partnering government to empower our youth. Those who are self-employed are being given money to expand their businesses. We have Zakat charity foundation that we use to organise skill acquisition for them. We donated over N5 million to widows across various locations last year.”
Kupolati stated that the body backed the proposal by Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu that Close Circuit Television Cameras (CCTV) should be installed at all religious centres, to ward off senseless attacks.
“NASFAT is totally in support of CCTVs being planted in faith based areas. The government shouldn’t just stop at that, they should do same in public places to safeguard the lives and property of our citizens,” she added.
Reeling out what NASFAT had done to fight poverty, Kupolati said: “We have given out about N380 million to different groups and populace to alleviate poverty. We gave out N70 million during COVID-19 to help Nigerians. We also have scholarship to sponsor youth for university education and for medical treatment of poor Nigerians.”
Kupolati described NASFAT as a pace-setting Islamic charity and faith-based organisation that promotes health, education, livelihood and good governance among Nigerians.
“Established in 1995, NASFAT has been conducting its services and programmes in Nigeria, US, Canada UK and some West African countries over the last 27 years and has been contributing positively to the peace, growth and development of our country,” Kupolati added.
