The Federal Government of Nigerian has directed the ministry of education to restore both the Christian Religious Knowledge and the Islamic Religious Knowledge as independent subjects.

The government asked the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, NERDC, the country’s education body to immediately reinstall the two subjects where they were before their removal.

Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, gave the directive at a meeting with State commissioners of education and stakeholders in the education sector, in Abuja.

The minister, represented by the Minister of State for Education, Anthony Anwukah, noted that the meeting was aimed at strengthening the partnership within the three tiers of government in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals 4, SDG4.

Speaking at the occasion, Adamu said the restoration of the subjects to their old status was imperative given the controversies their removal had generated in recent times, especially the complaint by the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN.

The minister said: “There is this controversy over the merger of CRK and IRK in the school curriculum. There were complaints by parents that children were overloaded with so many subjects and the recommendation then was to merge one or two subjects.

“Unfortunately, water and oil were merged together and it is not working. So, to save ourselves the agony, the two subjects should be separated.”

The minister said Nigeria has selected the Goal 4 of the SDGs, which emphasizes inclusive and quality education for all and promotion of lifelong learning, for implementation in view of the importance of education as a fulcrum to national development.