You Can’t Force Islamic Studies on Our Children – PFN, Bishop Oyedepo Fires Warning to FG

While addressing newsmen at the
Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria
Headquarters in Lagos on Thursday, the
General Overseer of Living Faith Church,
Bishop David Oyedepo, said government
had no right to force subjects on anybody.

PFN leaders at the briefing on Thursday
Arising from an emergency meeting in
Lagos, on Thursday, the Pentecostal
Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, and the General
Overseer, Living Faith Church, Bishop David
Oyedepo have warned the Federal and State
Governments against attempt to force
Christian students in secondary schools to
offer Islamic Studies.
Speaking while addressing newsmen at the
PFN Headquarters in Isolo, Lagos, Southwest
Nigeria, Oyedepo said government had no
right to force subjects on anybody, saying
that by stopping Christian Religion Studies,
CRS, at the Senior Secondary School level, it
automatically meant that it would not be
embraced at the tertiary institutions.
“You cannot force our students to study
Islamic Studies or Arabic Studies,” he said,
citing a case in Kwara State where a
Christian student was beaten and forced to
take Arabic Studies against his will.
Speaking, PFN President, Dr. Felix Omobude
said the PFN was concerned at the
contention and controversy that had
attended the revised Basic Education
Curriculum, especially the unnecessary
collapse of Christian Religious Studies as
part of an omnibus subject known as
Religion and National Values.
“We note the explanation by the Nigerian
Educational Research and Development
Council (NERDC) on some of the issues
raised. However, the PFN maintains that
whatever the case, there is really no need
nor is there any justification for the needless
confusion and uncertainty the NERDC has
created which has opened up the
implementation of the curriculum to the
whims and caprices people with vested
interests who want to impose their religious
preferences on students.
“The PFN calls for an immediate reversal of
the change of curriculum so that Christian
Religious Studies can stand on its own as a
separate subject just as it has always been.
Collapsing CRK as only a part of Religion and
National Values forecloses the opportunity
of the subject being studied at the tertiary
level by students who might so desire and
this is unacceptable to us.
“On the question of the compulsory study of
Foreign languages, as the curriculum has
laid out, the PFN urges that the window be
opened up to more languages beyond
French and Arabic to accommodate other
languages such as Spanish, etc. so that our
children can enjoy greater flexibility in
foreign language study and not be
compelled to study a language they have no
interest in, as its being reported in some
states. We are aware of orchestrated plans
to subtly use this policy as a means of
forceful religious indoctrination and we
maintain our stand against it,” Omobude
said.
On killings by Fulani herdsmen, Omobule
stated that the PFN was concerned that a lot
of the instances of killings across many
parts of the country was linked to Fulani
herdsmen who seemed to find it so easy to
kill, destroy farms and houses, yet were able
to evade apprehension by security forces.
“We call for adequate and appropriate
response of government to put an end to
the activities of these killer Herdsmen across
the country. We urge the Federal
Government to take the issue of security
more seriously especially the spate of
kidnappings all over the country.

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