– NOBEL
laureate Professor Wole
Soyinka has lashed at
members of Boko Haram,
saying they have limited
knowledge of Islamic
religion.
Speaking Monday in Port
Harcourt at the opening of
this year’s Rivers state
education summit, organised
by the state government
Professor Soyinka said poor
knowledge of the Koran was
largely responsible for why
Boko Haram should despise
western education.

According to him some of
the greatest philosophers in
history were Muslims, adding
that there was need for
members of Boko Haram to
be retrained on the content
of the religion.
“Boko Haram are not
educated enough about their
religion to know that some
of the greatest philosophers
came from the religion. They
have been taught one track
line (Monorail) about the
religion. They need to be re
educated about the religion”,
he said.
Soyinka who was Chairman
of the opening session said
government should take
urgent steps to redress the
decay in the nation’s
university system, stressing
that he was happy to be
invited to the summit to be
part of a move to rebuild the
educational system.
Professor Emeritus, Ayo
Banjo who gave the key note
address called for steps to
improve on the quality of
education at the primary
level, stressing that it was the
foundation of the
educational system.
He traced the high
percentage failure recorded
in the past at the West Africa
School Certificate
Examination to a weak
foundation at the primary
level, adding also that the
shaky foundation was also
behind poor quality
graduates being shunned
out by universities in the
country.
Professor Banjo further
called for a total overhaul of
the educational system from
the secondary to tertiary level
to achieve the best for the
nation.
Earlier in his welcome
address, governor Chibuike
Amaechi said the
government was set to
engage thirteen thousand
teachers to provide the
needed manpower to
achieve quality education in
the state.
He said the newly built
modern schools would be
managed by private hands
for the state. The governor
who spoke extensively on
some of the challenges
militating against quality
education in the state said
his government had to
institute a Quality Assurance
Board to check the problems