Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has called on Muslims in the state to imbibe the lessons of the Hijrah as they commemorate the commencement of the new Islamic calendar (1443AH).
The governor who congratulated the Muslims on witnessing another year in his message on the occasion held in Ilorin yesterday to mark the Islamic New Year noted that the Hijrah is a pointer that it takes hard work, discipline, sacrifice and unity of purpose by everyone to develop the country.
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“My message to everyone is simple: let us borrow a leaf from what Hijrah symbolises to unite our country and reject everything that stalls its growth. Wherever we stand on party politics, let us unite on common issues of national unity, security, peace and development. Let us reject forces of doom’’, he said.
He said the movement of prophet Muhammad and his lieutenants from Taif and then to Madinna in trickles and the growth and development of Islam in phases should teach Nigerians that no nation attains greatness in a jiffy.
‘’It takes hard work, discipline, sacrifice and unity of purpose by everyone to develop our country”, he added.
Represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof Manman Jibril, the governor praised the Muslims for cohabiting peacefully with the adherents of other faiths in the state and urged them to continue in that direction.
Earlier, the chairman of National Hijrah Committee, Kwara State chapter, Prof. Badmas Yusuf, appealed to religious leaders in the country to refrain from inciting people against one another with unguarded utterances and undignifying comments.
According to him, both Islam and Christian religious leaders should come together to fashion out a workable template from their respective scriptures as guiding codes for the nation’s leaders and politicians.
This, he noted, will enable them to pilot the nation’s affairs successfully.
He called on the Kwara State government to ensure full enforcement of the laws prohibiting the sale of human parts and sale and consumption of alcohol in some parts of the state.
He said: “This in our opinion is achievable through the setting up of a monitoring and enforcement agency that will see to the implementation of the laws. Furthermore, the state government is enjoined to empower the vigilante groups to enhance the security of the society. In alternative, Hisbah should be set up or something similar to it as available in many Northern states of Nigeria.’’
Also speaking at the occasion, the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, emphasised the need for peaceful co-existence among the people of the state, irrespective of religion and ethnic affiliations.
