Date: 2014-05-05

The National Coordinator,  Islamic Welfare Foundation (IWF), Mallam Aliyu Badmus,  at the weekend appealed to the  federal government not to relent in its ongoing efforts and commitment that would lead to the rescuing of the  abducted school girls. Badmus  said: "The life of every Nigerian should be protected because that is the whole essence of governance".

Badmus made the appeal in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, in his address at the round-table talk to mark the 30th anniversary of the islamic group.

Other educationists and Islamic scholars such as former Speaker of Osun State House of Assembly, Professor Mojeed Alabi, Mrs. Lateefat Durosinmi and Professor Bayo Lawal, among others delivered papers in the one-day programme.

According to him: "For almost three weeks, more than 100 school girls are left at the mercy of terrorists and criminals and government in our view has not shown enough commitment to securing their freedom".

He said: "There is the need for more proactive, coordinated and concerted efforts on the part of the nation's security apparatus to put an end to insurgency in Nigeria"

"In our view, stressed the coordinator of IWF,"the best options are good governance, reductions of poverty in the land, creation of employment for the teeming unemployed graduates and total extermination of poverty from the polity".

Badmus also commended the members for the achievements of the foundation in the last thirty years and called for more commitments on their part.

Dr. Lateefat Durosinmi, in her paper titled,"Muslim Women and Children in the Nigerian Project" lamented that the Nigerian project has been seriously endangered by the growing spate of terrorists attacks and kidnappings and expressed the strong need to change the system for good and have proper orientation of the body politics and also encourage the youths to embrace good value system.

She also said that as at July 2013, the population of Nigeria was 174.5M adding that women and the youths constitute the highly vulnerable segments of the population.

"The apparent neglect of these groups will spell doom for the country, unless concerted and sustainable efforts are made to end  all "hostility".

She also called on government at all levels to establish a councils for Women and Family Development at states and local government areas, to strengthen linkages with communities in order to address‎ issues affecting women at the grassroots.

Professor Mojeed Alabi in his paper titled,"Muslims and Political Developments in Nigeria" noted that there was a connection between Islam and Politics, saying that while Islam is a way of life, Politics is just one of them.

The former Speaker in Osun state house of assembly also blamed the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs(SCIA) for poor representation of Muslims at the ongoing Confab, stressing that the NSCIA as presently poorly composed and inadequately equipped to play any enviable role in the circumstance.

He also advised politicians inside and outside of power to be conscious of the ephemeral nature of power,"and that the success or otherwise of the trust of the power placed on us by almighty Allah is measured by how much we have touched the lives of our‎ fellow human beings. "