Cleric Urges FG to Address Economic Situation

The Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-In-Islam, Prof. Sabitu Ariyo Olagoke has again pleaded with the President Muhammed Buhari led administration to address the problem of economic recession which has adversely affected the youths and children in the country.

His appeal was contained in a lecture titled “Economic Recession: Effects on Children in Nigeria: The Way Out” which was delivered in Ibadan on Sunday while declaring it open to Shafaudeen Ishrat 2017.

Olagoke said “there is a need for stress relief techniques on cushioning the effect of the recessed economy through government relief strategy. There is equally a dire need for philanthropists to support government in alleviating the suffering of the people especially women, children and adolescents.

“The network of the identified stakeholders needs to recognize and address the relief needs of the community in a recessed economy; hence the need for government to improve upon social serves like the medical and educational as mostly affected persons of the society can easily be regarded as orphans because the parents are already incapacitated”.

The Cleric also called on government at all levels to implement favourable insurance policies to cover the medical needs of the children for free medical services and make education free and compulsory.

Stressing the need for government to formulate and implement relief policies for children, he noted that the recession has affected them in many ways like stunted growth, diseases, infant and maternal mortality as well as the disruption of their educational programme, making many of them to become nuisances in the society.

Olagoke declared that to realistically solve these problems, government must ensure that “salary of parents are paid as at when due, pensioners pay package must be paid on time because children and grandchildren depend on them.”

The Cleric declared that Islam is against violence of any form, warning that those engaging in blood shedding in the name of Islam are on their own and would incur the wrath of Allah except they turn a new leaf.