Date: 2013-01-01

Governor AbdulFatah Ahmed of Kwara State has re-assured that his administration would partner with stakeholders and religious bodies in a collective drive to move the Education Sector forward.

This is to achieve the overall objectives of vision 20 20-20. The Governor, represented by the state Commissioner for Education, Human capital Development, Alhaji Saka Onimago said this at the ninth National Conference of the Nigeria Association of Teachers of Arabic Languages and Literature (NATALLS) with the theme "Development of Arabic Language and literature in Nigeria during fifty years of independence", held at the Auditorium of the Kwara State University (KWASU), Malete.

Governor Ahmed, noted that the State Government was doing everything possible to attain success in the on-going education reform Agenda which among other things focused on the empowerment of teachers through the provision of logistics and creation of enabling environment.

Governor Ahmed, appealed to the participants to ensure that their deliberations would come out with suggestions that would assist government at all levels to formulate policies that would further help in achieving the objectives of bringing education to the door step of every child in the country.

Also speaking, the Chairman of the occasion and lawmaker representing Ilorin East and South Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives, Doctor Ali Ahmad, described Arabic as an international language that require high premium by improving the welfare of Arabic teachers.

Doctor Ahmad, who is the chairman House Committee on Justice, called on Nigerians to attach priority to learning all those international languages in order to capture the essence of bilateral relations with other nations.

The lawmaker said "Arabic is an international language that many countries speak and this can assist to solve some of the socio-political challenges facing Nigeria".

The Vice Chancellor of the Kwara state University, (KWASU), Professor AbdulRasheed Na'allah, in his message, assured the conference that the University would continue to partner with the Association to bring out the beauty of Islam especially with the establishment of Ilorin occasional poetry where poems written by scholars in Arabics could be found.

The Grand Khadi of the Kwara State Sharia Court of Appeal, Justice Idrees Haroon, in his address, appealed to the state government to constitute the board of Arabic Pronounced by the immediate past Governor of the state, Senator Bukola Saraki.

The conference attracted participants from across the country with Doctor Ali Ahmad launching the Journal of the Association with the sum of five hundred thousand naira and Mallam Yusuf Ali launching it for 250,000.