Ambode, Globacom task Muslims on godliness at Ramadan

MUSLIMS in Nigeria have been enjoined to re-dedicate themselves to the virtues of Godliness and discipline as they commence fasting in the holy month of Ramadan.

The call came from Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and telecommunications giant, Globacom.

Urging strict adherence to the dictates of Islam, Ambode, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Habib Aruna, said Ramadan signified a month of piety and total abstinence from food and all vices for the faithful.

While urging that the period of abstinence should also accentuate orderly behavior and obedience to constituted authority, the governor said with the fear of God, people will obey all laws.

He said all Muslims must ensure that the abstinence from all vices which is embraced during the Ramadan period should become an everyday affair because in doing so each person would be at peace with him or herself.

The governor, who also used the occasion to preach peaceful coexistence among all residents of the state, stressed that it was only in a peaceful atmosphere that all plans and programmes of the present Government can be actualized.

“At this critical period of nation building, the lessons of the Holy month of Ramadan must permeate all actions and deeds of the people in such a way that each person serve as his brother’s keeper always,” he said.

He added that it should also be a period of rededication to the ideals of nation building by the entire citizenry, especially at this period when majority of Nigerians have expressed their choice at the polls for a Change which must be total and all encompassing.

The telecoms firm in a statement in Lagos expressed solidarity with Nigerian Muslims, exhorting them to use the opportunity of the month to recommit themselves to Godliness, discipline and devotion to Almighty Allah as the Holy Quran enjoins.

The firm, which called on all Muslims to intercede for Nigeria as it enters a new administrative dispensation, enjoined them to pray for peace and progress in the country, especially in the North-East where insurgency had been on the rise in the last three years.

It said there could be no meaningful progress and commercial vibrancy where there was instability and insecurity.

The firm in the statement also praised all patriotic Nigerian Muslims for their struggles and commitment to the unity of the country and urged all, irrespective of religion, tribe and political persuasion, to support the new federal administration in the spirit of Godliness, saying: “As one country, we can pull through this period of trials, take Nigeria out of the woods and move the nation into the bracket of prosperous nations.

“All of us in Globacom wish all our Muslim brethren a very successful period of devotion. We pray that the Almighty Allah will show His mercies to all faithful in answering their prayers during this Ramadan period.”