Jonathan, governors preach peace on Sallah day

The need for peace in Nigeria is the central theme of the messages by Nigeria’s political leaders to Muslims as they mark Eid-el-Kabir today.

President Goodluck Jonathan not only congratulated all Nigerians performing the Hajj this year, but also urged all muslims to offer special prayers for peace, harmony, unity, security and progress in our fatherland.

“I also implore them, as always, to find time in the midst of the Eid-el-Kabir celebrations to meditate on the immense benefits our nation can derive from a greater exhibition by its people of piety, honesty, selflessness, tolerance, peaceful co-existence with others, equity, fairness and justice for all, which are an integral part of the message of the Holy Prophet.”

He said his administration “remains fully committed to the implementation of measures and policies that will further promote and enhance national peace, stability and progress.

“It is in keeping with that avowed commitment and my firm belief in the right to freedom of expression and the right of all people in a democracy to make choices on how they wish to live and be governed that I recently announced plans for an orderly national conversation on our problems and challenges.”, he added.

Governor Rauf Aregbesola of the Nigerian state of Osun said that Nigeria needed peace, security and cooperation among its diverse peoples to prosper.

In a statement signed by Mr Semiu Okanlawon, the Director of Communication in the Governor’s Office, Aregbesola urged Muslims to live in peace, while exhibiting tolerance towards adherents of other faiths.

Aregbesola, however, called on the adherents of all religions to protect the sanctity of human life, saying in all the Scriptures, God never commanded or appointed anyone as judge over other human beings.

“Political leaders and followers, religious leaders and their adherents must come together and forge a harmonious relationship for the love of their country, as preached by Prophet Muhammad,’’ he said.

Aregbesola urged the people of the state “to live in peace and extend the hands of fellowship to their neighbours’’.

He called on the Muslim faithful to emulate Prophet Ibrahim and his son, whose unshaken belief in perseverance and fulfilment of God’s salvation, everlasting and divine compensation was unparalleled.

Besides, Gov. Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State called on Muslims to follow the teachings of the festival, which included sacrifice and total obedience to the will of Allah.

In a statement issued by his Director of Press and Public Relations Malam Halilu Dantiye, the governor urged Muslims to celebrate the festival peacefully, while praying for the peace and prosperity of the country.

He thanked the citizens of Kano State for their cooperation and support which, he said, resulted in the successes which his administration had so far recorded.

In his message, Mr Yomi Awoniyi, Kogi’s Deputy Governor, called on Muslims to use the Eid-el-Kabir celebration to build harmonious relationships with their neighbours.

Awoniyi, in a statement issued in Lokoja by his Press Secretary, Mr Michael Abu, said that the celebration was a period for displaying the virtues of tolerance and understanding.

He called on Muslims to follow Allah’s teachings, urging them not to see the period as a time for merriment only but to see it as an opportunity to engage in sober reflections on the significance of the season.

Awoniyi advised Muslims and, indeed, all Nigerians to eschew all forms of vices that could hinder peace and their harmonious relations with people of other faiths.

“We must continue to appreciate the fact that our strength as a nation lies in our ethnic and religious diversities,” he said.