Mark, govs, others seek prayers for peace, unity, survival of Nigeria during Ramadan

Posted by admin Governors, Headlines, Legislature, Senate Monday, June 30th, 2014

Urge ceasefire by Boko Haram insurgents

THE Senate President, David Mark, has urged Muslims to make the continued survival of Nigeria a focal point of their prayers to the Almighty Allah during this holy month of Ramadan.

Mark, in a message to the Muslim faithful in Nigeria, urged them to pray for the nation and her people in order to overcome the trying times.

He said: “More than any time else, the nation requires your support and prayers to triumph over forces of evil facing the nation. Our security operatives have been over-stretched. Our people are daily being killed needlessly. Our only hope is in the divine intervention of the Almighty creator to salvage the situation.

“It has therefore become imperative that you commit yourselves to praying for the peace, unity and survival of Nigeria in this holy month of Ramadan.”

He also called for support and co-operation of all to the security operatives to combat the menace of insurgents ravaging the country.

Also, Governors Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State, Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara) and Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Yomi Awoniyi, have charged Muslims in the state to use the month-long fasting period to pray for peace, progress, unity and economic development of the country.

Ajimobi, in a statement issued in Ibadan yesterday by his Special Adviser on Media, Dr. Festus Adedayo, urged Islamic faithful to pray to the Almighty Allah to touch the hearts of the insurgents whom he said had been disrupting the peace of Nigeria so that they could sheathe their swords and embrace peace.

While Kwara State Governor in a special message to Muslims, issued through his Chief Press Secretary, Abdulwahab Oba, to mark the commencement of this year’s Ramadan fast, charged Muslim faithful to use the holy month of Ramadan to intensify prayers for the restoration of peace and unity in the country in the face of increasing security challenges and also enjoined them to use the month to show kindness and love to the less-privileged in the society in order to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor in the country, Awoniyi challenged Islamic preachers to guard their utterances against misleading the people but should rather concentrate on the true teachings of Islam.

Awoniyi, who made the call yesterday in his Ramadan message, which was signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Abu Michael, charged Muslim faithful to use the holy month to pray for the country on the security challenges that have persisted in spite of the commitment of security agencies to overcome them.

He identified good intention, prayers and firmness of purpose in the pursuit of good deeds as conditions for reaping the benefits of the holy month.

Also yesterday, a non-governmental organisation, Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), called on Boko Haram to use this period of fasting to observe a ceasefire against innocent Nigerians who are mainly victims of the senseless aggression against the nation.

TAN condemned, in strong terms, last Wednesday’s bomb blast at the EMAB Plaza, Wuse II, Abuja, in which over twenty people were killed and many injured.

In a statement in Abuja, the Director of Communications & Strategy of the organisation, Dr. Udenta O. Udenta, expressed shock at such a dastardly act, especially against innocent citizens who were mainly petty traders, artisans and other law-abiding citizens who make a living within the plaza environment.

Udenta, in calling on the families of the bereaved to bear the losses with fortitude, stressed that “Nigerians, irrespective of political, religious or ethnic persuasion, should join hands with government of President Goodluck Jonathan in tackling problems of terrorism and other vices.”

The organisation called on Nigerians to be very vigilant and support the nation’s security agencies in tackling the menace of insurgents in the country.

Meanwhile, members of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) have urged all Muslims to use the commencement of the Ramadan fasting to pray for the unity of the nation and an end to the Boko Haram insurgency and other security problems plaguing Nigeria.

The ACF National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Muhammadu Ibrahim, in a statement said: “The Forum wishes the Muslim community a peaceful, rewarding and blissful Ramadan fast. It equally urges Muslims to devote themselves to prayers for unity, peaceful co-existence and the courage to overcome the security challenges confronting Nigeria.”

Governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, in a message congratulated the entire Muslim Ummah in Kaduna State and indeed Nigeria for witnessing the beginning of another holy month of Ramadan.

In a statement by the Director-General, Media and Publicity to the Governor, Malam Ahmed Maiyaki, the governor “rejoices with Muslims on the sighting of the moon signalling the beginning of twenty-nine or thirty days of obligatory fasting by all adult-health Muslims”, while calling on Muslims “to take full advantage of the holy month by forging greater unity within them Ummah and with adherents of other faiths in the country.”

The Chairman of Itire Districts Co-ordinating Council (IDCC) of Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) in Lagos, Pastor Joseph Babayemi, has urged Islamic faithful to pray for peace nationwide and the end of insurgency in the North.

In a press statement released in Lagos at the weekend, the CAC IDCC Chairman, urged them to spend the 30 days of the fasting as a period for sober reflection and a time to pray for peace to return to the nation.

“It is significant that all people, be they Muslims, Christians,

Judaists, Animists or Atheists will usually sight one and the same moon. God in His Infinite wisdom has ensured that people of different faiths do not see different moons,” he said.

According to Pastor Babayemi, both the Bible and Qur’an agree that Muslims and Christians are one as their origins are traceable to the Patriarch Abraham in the Middle-East.
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