Continue Your Devotion beyond Ramadan, Tutor General Admonishes Muslims

An appeal has gone to Muslims not to limit their devotion and good deeds to the month of Ramadan.
The Tutor General/Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Education District I, Prince Bashir Adeoye Adebowale, in his address at this year’s Ramadan lecture of the District in Lagos, implored Muslims, especially students, to take advantage of the month to draw closer to Allah through their prayers, devotion and uprightness.
Addressing the students, Adebowale said: ‘They should read their Quran; they should be prayerful in this month than any other time. They should not waste their time. They should shun all forms of vices. They have to be good ambassadors of Islam’, he said.
He however admonished them not to limit the good deeds to Ramadan.
Delivering the Ramadan lecture entitled Temptation of the Youths: Overcoming the menace of Fake news and Hate Speech, Dr Jamiu Oluwatoki, of the Lagos State University, Department of History and International Relations, said parents and teachers have a big role to educate the students on how to discern fake news from real news.
He charged them to correct the children with love, saying most of the students that are termed deviants are that way because they feel unloved and isolated.
‘We should be able to train our children with love and care, with sincerity and listen to them. Often they go through their own challenges. They need explanation but often parents and teachers don’t actually get to understand what they are going through. We need to teach them to be discerning. They will be able to understand what is good from what is bad and they will grow up as balanced adults’, he said.
He said children are easier to teach to detect fake news because most of them have been involved in social media from the womb whereas most adults joined the social media train late.
The Director, Curriculum, Science and Technology in the District, Mrs Oluwakemi Oyegbile, said the choice of topic for this year’s Ramadan lecture was very significant in view of prevailing situation in the country.
‘The topic is significant because fake news and social media have had a lot of impact. Most of it is negative. It is really affecting their lives, the way they think. We think that at this period there is need to educate the students on importance of listening to news, what they should listen to and how to discern. The ones they should watch and the ones they shouldn’t watch. If they should continue to take in everything they read and see on the social media and the fake news, it will affect them negatively’, she added.
The programme also featured Quiz competition and Quran recitation competition.
State Senior High School, Oyewole came first in the quiz for senior category ahead of Jakande Estate Comprehensive Senior College and Ishefun Community Senior in second and third positions respectively.
The Quiz for Junior category was won by Ijaiye Ojokoro Junior High School, while Tomia Community Junior Secondary and Yewa Junior High School came second and third respectively.
The Ramadan Lecture is an annual programme of the district made up of schools in Agege, Alimoso and Ifako Ijaiye Local Government areas of Lagos State.