Education best tool to fight extremism, Italian PM Matteo Renzi says

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has called on education institutions in Kenya to drive the war against extremism.

In a public lecture delivered at the University of Nairobi, Mr Renzi, who is in Kenya for a two-day visit, said proper education and good teachers from kindergarten to university reduces the risks of the youth joining extremist groups.

“I am convinced that if we want to destroy radicalism, the first step is to invest in education,” he told an audience of government officials, academics and students on Wednesday.

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Mr Renzi said on Wednesday that there could be other factors that influence youth to join radical groups, but poverty is the major reason.

“The only way to fight extremism is to fight poverty because extremism thrives in poor regions," he said.

Mr Renzi, 40, Italy’s youngest prime minister since Benito Mussolini, was speaking on the "Challenges of Development: Building Bridges to Combat Extremism.’

The subject comes amid rising terrorism, led by groups such as Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab and ISIS.

With every country now at risk of being attacked, Mr Renzi argued governments and citizens must take responsibility in the war on terrorism.

Italy, which has faced a rising wave of illegal immigrants, was recently targeted by terrorists when its Consulate in Cairo (Egypt) was bombed.

ISIS took responsibility for the attack, which they claimed was a "warning" to Egypt.