Immediate past acting national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, has described functional education coupled with good moral upbringing of the youth as solution to senseless killings in parts of northern Nigeria.

He added that misguided people were hiding under the cloak of religion to kill and maim fellow Nigerians.

Baraje spoke with reporters at the weekend in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, at the graduation venue of pupils of Baraje Centre for Arabic and Islamic Studies.

The immediate past PDP chair therefore urged government at all levels to ensure provision of quality and functional education in the country. He gave the Kwara government a pass mark in the education sector, adding that there was still room for improvement.

His words: "The intension is to give a good foundation to these youths and they will not misinterpret whatever they read and nobody can hoodwink, misguide and hypnotise them. Because I believe it is the misguided ones that are turning the name of Islam upside down.

"What we are doing here is to build a future for Nigeria. A future where the youth will not only be given education but functional one for that matter, an education that will enable him live peacefully with any Nigerian or anybody without causing any harm. To prove that Islam is a religion of peace, to prove Islam preaches welfarism, to prove that people who are killing and maiming in the name of Islam are totally being misguided and misled.

"Once morality is inculcated in them from their young ages, they will never misunderstand any act of knowledge given to them. Therefore, it is expected that the products of this centre will understand the true meaning of Islam and exhibit the true principle of Islamic relations.

"This school is eventually going to be secular and going to be affiliated with ABU and Al-Hassan University in Egypt. We are already on with the applications to these institutions. The institution is to promote education but beginning with Islamic education. My intension is to ensure that the morality of our youth has solid foundation."

Earlier, a Judge of the Kwara State Sharia Court of Appeal, Imam Saliu Mohammed, urged Nigerians to rally round President Goodluck Jonathan's administration to bring about enduring peace in all the troubled parts of the country.

The Khadi, who is also the chief Imam of the court appealed to all and sundry in the country to imbibe the culture of peace and harmonious relationship, praying for the sustenance of peace in non-volatile areas of Nigeria.