30th December, 2023
Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat has called on Nigerians irrespective of class, tribe or religion to shun greed and maintain integrity in all sectors for the country to experience the growth and development everyone hopes for.
Hamzat gave this advice on Saturday at the Opening Ceremony of the 36th Triennial National Conference of the Muslim Association of Nigeria (MAN), themed “Nigeria and the Prospects of Socio-Economic Stability”, held at the Headquarters of the association in Surulere, Lagos.
The Deputy Governor added that Nigerians must have great love for the country and be more patriotic.
He said, “The love of our country is very important. We must love our country and all sectors must maintain integrity, we must all cut greed”.
Speaking further, Hamzat charged Muslim clerics and other religious leaders in the country to always base their teachings on values and topics that proffer solutions to contemporary issues to bring about necessary social changes needed for the growth and development of the country.
He added that they should always use religion to preach peace and bring people together for the upliftment of the country rather than using it to bring disunity among citizens of the country.
Stressing the importance of the family unit in the overall development of the nation, Hamzat said that nothing can lead to development when the family unit is broken.
He, therefore, admonished parents to take good care of their children and train them to know the essence of life, shun social vices and always know that hard work pays.
Hamzat also urged them to ensure that the family unit takes its rightful position in society as of old, where everyone knows his or her responsibility and effectively discharges it.
The Deputy Governor added that parents must teach their children their languages, morals and values, adding that “If we lose our values, we will lose ourselves”.
Speaking on the theme of the Conference, “Nigeria and the Prospects of Socio-Economic Stability,” the Guest Lecturer, Dr. Saheed Timehin of the Department of Foreign Languages, Lagos State University, Ojo, stressed the need for a new socio-economic ideology in meeting the challenging order in the country.
He noted that the major problem of the country is value change, saying “if one looks at the interjectory of what has happened since independence, one will note that Nigeria really needs a change in the attitude of the citizenry. This is the reason many times when the government makes a policy, it is difficult to relate with such policy because, in actual facts, our attitudes are not what they should be”.
The President, Muslim Association of Nigeria (MAN), Alhaji Tajudeen Olajide Ojikutu said, the association was established to among other things; cater for the spiritual, moral and socioeconomic needs of Muslim Ummah, cooperate with other Muslim organisations for the propagation of Islamic faith and promote education and scholarship among the generality of Muslims.