…Preach peace, tolerance, love
From WOLE BALOGUN, Ado-Ekiti
A former governor of Ekiti State and a governorship aspirant under the All Progressives Congress, (APC) Chief Segun Oni, another APC governorship aspirant, Kola Alabi, and a former Ambassador of Nigerian to Canada and PDP governorship aspirant in the state, Amb. Dare Bejide, have all felicitated with all Muslims across the country.
Oni, who called on Muslim faithful and all Nigerians to imbibe the virtues of love, tolerance and harmony as advocated by the teaching of Prophet Mohammed, through his Director, Media and Publicity of Segun Oni Campaign Organisation, Mr. Steve Alabi in Ado-EkIti on Thursday, said that the celebration of this year’s Eid el-Kabir offered Nigerians a chance to show love to one another and strengthen the bonds of nationhood.
“Nigerians should love one another, show more tolerance for one another and work more closely together to pull the country out of the recession,’’ Oni said.
He assured the people of the state, especially the civil servants, pensioners and artisans of better time from October 2018 when the tenure of the current administration would end and a new government is formed.
The governorship hopeful said he is not happy about the huge arrears of salaries, gratuities and pensions being piled up monthly in the state.
On his part, the former Ambassador to Canada and governorship aspirant in Ekiti State, Amb. Dare Bejide, who also felicitated with Muslims for witnessing another Eid-el-Kabir celebration, urged them to use the festive period to pray for the country to be able to overcome its current challenges.
Bejide, in his Sallah message, said Nigeria required fervent prayers of all, particularly Muslim faithful for it to survive all the challenges confronting it.
The former envoy urged Muslims to learn from the lessons inherent in
Eid-el-Kabir, which is “love, dedication, sacrifice and holiness” and imbibe such in their daily lives for Nigeria to become a peaceful and great nation.
“I want to felicitate with our Muslim brothers for witnessing yet another Eid-el-Kabir. But they should not just allow this to end like a ceremony, it should be more of prayers and more rededication of selves to the service of almighty Allah.
“Muslims must pray for their leaders, shun hate speeches and have incurable belief in the unity of our dear nation. With this, Nigeria will become a great nation that we can all be proud of”, he said.
Also, an All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Ekiti State, Mr. Kola Alabi, has rejoiced with Muslims as they celebrate this year’s Eid-el-Kabir. Alabi, in a statement by the Director General of his campaign organisation, Toba Adaramola in Ado Ekiti on Thursday, urged Muslim brothers to pray for full recovery of President Muhammadu Buhari to be able to deliver on his electioneering promises.
The APC governorship aspirant urged Muslims to always co-exist peacefully with their Christian brothers and work towards the sustenance of the country’s unity in the interest of the nation.
He said what is required from any God-fearing citizen is prayer and not incendiary comments that can truncate the country’s existence and create cleavages in terms of religion and ethnicity that has always been the bane of the country. Alabi advised Muslims to always exhibit love as directed by Islamic injunctions and taught by Prophet Mohammed.
The governorship hopeful said the country can only attain greatness if the religious bodies are concerned about the unity of our dear nation and not parochial interest of individuals or groups.
“As you celebrate today, this is another opportunity for you to
rededicate yourselves to almighty Allah not only as a Muslim worshippers but as a true servant of God as typified Prophet Mohammed (SAT).
“The prophet taught the spirit of love, sacrifice, perseverance, generosity and tolerance and these must reflect in our daily lives for a nation full of abundance envisaged by our founding fathers to be attained” .Alabi appealed to Muslims to pray fervently for God to intervene in the economy of this country, pointing out that non-payment in a predominantly civil service state like Ekiti has increased the level of poverty in the land.
He promised to initiate programmes that would be of interest to the civil servants and the good people of the state if elected, particularly the one that has to do with the welfare of the populace.