Ramadan Kareem: Jonathan Urge Muslims To Pray For Peace ...Atiku, Fayemi, Others Pray

President Jonathan has urged Muslims to “offer special prayers” for the peace and security of the country.

The President made the call, Saturday, as Muslim faithful all over the world began the yearly 30-day Ramadan fasting.

In a statement by his spokesman, Rueben Abati, Jonathan reassured “the entire nation that the Federal Government continues to work tirelessly to curb insurgency, terrorism and other criminal acts.”

The President furthermore urged “Nigerians not to succumb to despair, but remain steadfast in the firm conviction that with courage, determination, focus, decisiveness and collective support for the Armed Forces and security agencies, the country will ultimately overcome the evil agents of sectionalism, sectarianism and international terrorism who seek to disunite the nation.”

He called on Nigerian Muslims, in the light of the sacred month, to commit themselves more to the virtues of piety, self-discipline, tolerance, equity, honesty, fairness and sympathy for the less privileged.

Wishing Muslims “a rewarding and spiritually gratifying Ramadan fast”, he prayed that God would grant Nigeria greater peace, security, unity and national harmony.

In a goodwill message to Muslims in Abuja issued by his media office, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said the war between Boko Haram fighters and government forces have caused enough grief and anguish, and created so many orphans and widows. He called for immediate ceasefire and negotiations to bring the fighting to a permanent end. He also advised Muslims to put into practice the virtues of the Ramadan fasting period.

Governor Fayemi in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr, Olayinka Oyebode, urged Muslims to use the Ramadan season to pray for peace and prosperity in Ekiti State, especially as the state is about to witness a change in leadership. He urged them to use the period to pray for peace to reign in all the troubled spots in the country.

Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State charged Muslims all over the country to pray for peace and security.

In a statement by the Director, Bureau of Communications and Strategy, Office of the Governor, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, the governor said Ramadan is a month in which Muslims redouble their spiritual efforts for the attainment of piety.

He tasked the Muslim Ummah to use the holy month to pray fervently for peace and security in the nation and Osun.
He reiterated that Islam is a religion that promotes peace and its adherents have no choice but be peaceful and peace loving in their conduct.

The statement said: “This is a month that comes once in a year. It is a month designed by Allah to open the door of mercy, favour and forgiveness to His creatures. We should seize this opportunity to pray for the country to overcome all the socio-political upheavals and insecurity it has been battling with.”

The Chief Missioner, Dairatul Razakiyat Association of Nigeria/Imam, Anu Oluwapo Mosque, Orile Oshodi, Lagos, Uztaz Taofeek Eniafe, urged Muslims to “use this period to move closer to God and run away from things that would not help to build their faith such as alcohol and fornication, among others. And this is the general advise to Nigerians; we need prayer, everyone needs to move closer to God, especially now that we are talking about insecurity. Our security depends on God not on any human being.”

The Director of Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), Professor Is-haq Akintola, said: “Our desire at this time is that we want to come nearer to Allah, our creator. It is not just an ordinary exercise; it is obedience to the commandment of the Almighty Allah. We fast to come nearer to Him, we fast in order to atone for sins committed during the year, we fast in order to get our prayers and supplications answered by the divine creator. At this period, it is expected that our language will be pure; our hearts must be pure. You don’t think evil about another person.”

In the same vein, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun urged Muslims to use the Ramadan as a period of reflection and pray for peace to reign in the country.

This is contained in a statement signed by Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, the party’s Director of Publicity, Strategy and Research yesterday in Osogbo.

The statement urged Muslims to pray for political sanity to pre-occupy the hearts of politicians, especially those who are desperate for political power.

“As a religion that promotes and preaches peace and brotherly relationship, true Muslims should be in the vanguard of peaceful co-existence in the society. At this period of great challenges facing Nigeria and the political class, fasting and praying for divine intervention is a great necessity.

“Let us use this period as effectively as we can to pray for sanity and peace to reign supreme before, during and after the election scheduled for August 9 in the state and the general elections in 2015”, the statement reads.

Dr Bukola Saraki, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology, urged Muslims to use the opportunity of Ramadan to pray for the restoration of peace in the country.

Saraki, who stated this in a statement yesterday in llorin, urged Muslims to pray for a terror-free Nigeria. He said: “I give thanks to Almighty Allah for keeping us alive and healthy to witness and partake in another month of Ramadan; the month of forgiveness, mercy and abundant blessings. I urge Muslims to use the opportunity of this month’s divinity to get closer to Almighty Allah and wish them a successful Month of Holiness,” he said.

The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins, enjoined Muslims to rededicate themselves during the fasting by showing more love and care.

In his Ramadan message, Martins, who spoke through the Director of Social Communications, Msgr. Gabriel Osu, said there is need for Nigerians to be more sensitive to the well being of their fellow men, especially during this period in the nation’s history characterised by insecurity and unprecedented loss of innocent lives.

Former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala of Oyo State urged Muslims in the country to use the period to pray for the nation’s development.

Alao-Akala, who made the call in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ogbomoso, yesterday, urged Muslims to be steadfast in prayers.

He said Ramadan is a symbolic month meant for moving closer to God, and called on Muslims to pray hard for the nation. He added that progress recorded so far is a pointer that the nation would soon attain the enviable position it desires.