Saudi Arabia is very pleased with the progress toward an Islamic state in Nigeria, where about 200 people were killed in the Muslim riots that broke out in November 2002 during the Miss World pageant: Saudi to Finance Religious Teachers’ Employment in Kebbi. (Hat tip: Baldy.)

The Saudi Arabian Religious and Cultural Attache in Nigeria, Sheik Abdul-Aziz, announced his country’s satisfaction with the remarkable successes being recorded in the implementation of the Shariah decision when the Kebbi State Governor, Alhaji Muhammed Adamu Aliero visited the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Abuja.

Sheik Abdul-Aziz said his country has been monitoring and assessing the implementation of Shariah in the state since it was introduced and noted with delight the mode of implementation and the steady progress recorded.

He observed that since the introduction of Shariah, the state government programmes and policies were centred on economic empowerment of the people which has, by and large, improved the socio-economic well being of the people, thereby reducing considerably, the level of poverty in the state.

He further noted the reduction of social vices and appreciable compliance with the teaching of Islam among the Muslim Ummah, while the fundamental human rights of the non-Muslim have not been infringed upon as a result of the implementation of Shariah in the state.

Impressed by the progress made as part of its contribution towards the success of the Shariah, Sheik Abdul-Aziz announced that the Saudi government has decided to finance the employment of Islamic religious teachers for educational institutions and Islamic preachers in the state to compliment the state government’s enlightenment drive, for the adherence to Shariah in the state.

To this end, the envoy requested the state government, particularly those who studied in Saudi Arabia for immediate employment by the Saudi authority to teach in the state schools and preach the teaching of Shariah among the people.