Muslims celebrate festival, get goodwill messages

Nigerian Muslims on Tuesday trooped out to the mosques to say the two rakat prayers to mark the end of the Ramadan fasting.

The Ramadan fasting started on May 6, 2019 and ended on June 3 after the crescent moon was reported sighted in Saudi Arabia and parts of Nigeria.

Goodwill messages have continued to pour to Muslims.

President Muhammadu Buhari expressed satisfaction at the conduct of peaceful elections in Nigeria, despite what he called “doomsday predictions of social disharmony.”

The President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu in a statement in Abuja on Monday, said the President made his feelings known in his Sallah message to Nigerians to celebrate the end of the Ramadan fasting season.

President Buhari commended INEC for a good job despite the initial difficulties and praised the voters for their tenacity and strong faith in the democratic process.

“Before the 2019 general elections, prophets of doom didn’t give the country a chance to conduct peaceful elections. Despite these fears, the country overcame its political challenges.

“For abandoning their businesses in order to vote, the voters had demonstrated great patriotism in coming out to exercise their civic duty.

“Let me use this opportunity once again to reassure all Nigerians that your sacrifices in voting for me won’t be in vain. I will ensure the ordinary voters feel the positive impact of government,” the President said.

On the lessons of the Ramadan, President Buhari urged Muslims to always put humanity before personal interests.

He said: “The Ramadan period is meant to reinforce us spiritually, therefore, we should use religion as an inspiration to do good at all times.

“The virtues of the Ramadan should be sustained beyond the celebration.

”Going back to bad ways after the Ramadan might defeat the essence of the message and lessons the fasting period was supposed to inculcate in the hearts and minds of the Muslim faithful.”

President Buhari also used the occasion to commiserate with victims of terrorism, kidnapping and banditry in the country.

He reassured Nigerians that under no circumstances would criminals and mass murderers be allowed to hold the country to ransom, assuring that ‘‘their days are numbered because this administration will pursue them relentlessly and bring them to justice.”

Bishop Emmanuel Badejo of the Catholic Diocese of Oyo congratulated Muslims on the completion of the Ramadan and urged them and Nigerians in general to continue to live peacefully.

He said on Tuesday in Lagos that Nigerians must collectively fight the social vices confronting them.

“We have prayed for them to be faithful children of God/Allah. God is a God of love, harmony and peace.

“He has brought us all together. Let us join hands to fight evil,” he said.

Badejo continued, “Christianity, Islam and Traditional Religion preach against evil; so let us all fight violence, kidnapping, rape and robbery. Let us serve God sincerely by living in peace with all.”

He also urged leaders to imbibe the spirit of service and justice which authentic Islam preaches in order to serve God, Nigerians and humanity well.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) also urged Muslims to continue to imbibe the spirit, virtues and lessons of Ramadan in rededicating itself to the task of nation building.

Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu, APC National Publicity Secretary said: “In commemoration of the 2019 Eid El Fitri signalling the end of the Ramadan fast, the APC rejoices with all Muslim faithful and indeed, all Nigerians for the successful completion of the month-long fasting.

“The party implore Muslim Ummah to continue to imbibe the spirit, virtues and lessons of Ramadan which include sacrifice, modesty and discipline in rededicating itself to the task of nation building.

“We equally admonish Muslims and non-Muslims to cultivate the virtues of tolerance in their relationship with fellow Nigerians and shun all divisive acts and tendencies capable of destabilising the country,”he said.

The APC spokesman added that in the wake of security challenges such as terrorism, armed banditry and kidnapping in parts of the country, Nigerians should remain vigilant and security conscious.

He further added that while being security conscious, Nigerians should report suspicious activity around them to relevant security agencies.

He stressed that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC administration holds the protection of lives and property of every Nigerian sacrosanct.

Issa-Onilu assured that the President would not relent in swiftly dealing with real and perceived threats in any part of the country.

He urged Nigerians to continue to pray for the peace, progress, stability and prosperity of the country and to grant its leaders at all levels the wisdom to successfully steer the ship of the nation.