President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, urged Nigerians to use the Eid-el-Malud to reflect on the virtues of Prophet Muhammed by showing love and understanding for fellow citizens and exhibit patience, honesty, sincerity, kindness and generosity in all their undertakings.
In a message to Muslims across the country, he urged all citizens and the youths in particular, to shun negative tendencies as manifested in the recent hijacking of peaceful protests to loot and destroy public and private property.
He also reiterated his earlier promise to bring police officers responsible for misconduct and the looters to justice.
ALSO, President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, cautioned Nigerian youths who recently protested demanding for better policing and good governance, to embrace peace during the Eid-el-Maulud celebration especially as the Federal Government had acceded to their demands.
He stated this in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media, Ola Awoniyi, in Abuja yesterday.
In a similar vein, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, enjoined the Muslim community to use the Eid-el-Malud celebration to promote religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence in the state and entire country.
In a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Kelvin Ebiri, the governor said his administration would continue to promote religious tolerance among residents of the state.
Governor Wike advised the Muslim adherents to imbibe the virtues of love, peace, communal living and honesty, qualities of Prophet Mohammed in their daily lives.
His Cross River State counterpart, Ben Ayade, sought prayers and forgiveness from Nigerians, irrespective of religious, ethnic or political beliefs.
Ayade stated this yesterday in a message by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Christian Ita to the Muslim faithful on the occasion of this year’s Eid-el-Malud.
The governor, who stressed that prayers, patriotism and respect to constituted authority were some of the qualities of Prophet Muhammed, explained that Nigerians needed to imbibe those qualities to guarantee a peaceful and united country.
BESIDES, Enugu State, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, urged Nigerians to intensify prayers and reflect on the many challenges facing the country.
In his goodwill message, he conveyed the felicitations of the state government and Enugu people to President Muhammadu Buhari and Muslim faithful, maintaining that through intensified prayers, faith in God and commitment to the core values of the nation’s founding fathers, efforts at sustaining peace, unity and progress in the country would be actualised.
MEANWHILE, the All Progressives Congress (APC) charged Nigerians to desist from sowing the seeds of discord by inciting violence and division through religious and ethnic fault lines in the country.
In its congratulatory message to Muslim faithful, it noted that such persons were unpatriotic and self-serving, and urged Nigerians to be influenced by piety, sacrifice, patience and fellowship that Prophet Muhammed epitomised.
