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Eid-el-kabir: Fashola, Tinubu, others seek tolerance
http://9janews.corank.com/tech/story/eid-el-kabir-Fashola-Ti...
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11 months, 3 weeks, 1 day, 4 hours agoBy Mudiaga Affe, Francis Falola and Ademola Oni
Published: Tuesday, 9 Dec 2008
Governor Babatunde Fashola
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) and his immediate predecessor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, on Monday, joined Muslim faithful worldwide in observing the Eid-el-Kabir prayers.
They also urged stakeholders to show understanding, restraint and tolerance to one another at all times.
The development came just as Tinubu condemned the killings in Jos, Plateau State, saying that the issues of citizenship and gender were distraction that ought to be eliminated from the Nigerian polity.
Fashola, who spoke with journalists at the Dodan Barracks Praying Ground, Obalende, Ikoyi, Lagos said this was a time for all Nigerians to come together and embrace one another irrespective of religious faith.
The governor explained that the Sallah period represented a period of special sacrifice and submission.
He said, “This period represents a time for sacrifice for nation building and sacrifices in form of restraint and sharing brotherhood and brotherliness at all times because all men are creatures of Almighty Allah and everything happens only through his divine will.”
Fashola urged Lagosians to be determined more than ever before to ensure that as a mega city, Lagos would remain a model for harmonious co-existence.
He said, “The diversity of faiths, cultures, tongues and traditions that exist in our world, as typified by the multi-national and multi-cultural character of the multitude of pilgrims that converged in the holy land, is a testimony of the limitless greatness of the Almighty who is the source of all existence.”
Also speaking shortly after the mosque service, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Culture, Mrs. Caroline Bello-Aromire, said the sacrifice made by Ibrahim was enough to make Muslims all over the world to emulate the doctrine of Islam.
She said this at the felicitation ceremony, organised by her ministry at the State House, Marina.
According to her, the Islamic faithful need to sacrifice certain things to the good of their neighbours, community and a service to God Almighty when he demanded of such services from his followers.
Prominent among those who observed the sallah prayers led by the Chief Imam of Lagos, Alhaji Akinola Ibrahim, were a former Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Musiliu Smith, and the Lagos State Head of Service, Alhaji Yakub Balogun.
Commenting on the Jos crisis, Tinubu noted that the issues of citizenship and gender should be discarded.
He added that Nigerians should be free to reside anywhere in the country, vote and be voted for.
Fashola later slaughtered a ram at the Lagos House, Marina as a sign of the commemoration of the sallah celebration.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum and Niger State Governor, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, on Monday, cautioned the Northern states on the need to ensure peaceful co-existence by putting an end to violent crisis.
Speaking against the backdrop of the recent Jos crisis where over hundreds lost their lives, Aliyu stated the need for the region to guard against political, religious or any form of violent in the interest of economic development of the area.
Also, the Chief Imam of Ota Central Mosque, Alhaji Jubril Otun, has said as long as the nation‘s politicians continued to mix religion with politics, the nation could not know peace.
Otun spoke during the special prayer marking the Islamic festival of Eid-el-Kabir in Ota, Ogun State, on Monday.
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