By Valentine Amanze, Online Editor
Muslims in Nigeria have been advised to continue to pray for peace and the security of lives and property in the country.
The Vice Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in 2019 general elections, Mr Peter Obi, made the appeal in his Sallah message to Muslims.
He lamented what he described as abominably high rate of violence and bloodshed in the country.
Obi described Nigeria as a country hanging on life support in all fronts.
He said that the challenges facing Nigerians were man-made and could be solved easily with good leadership.
He pointed out that Nigeria was a nation richly blessed in natural and human resources, lamenting, “If not for the years of accumulated leadership failure, Nigeria would have been a reference point of development and progress in the world.”
Obi said that the nation needed urgent divine intervention to stem the unpleasant tide of violence, bloodshed, crime, terrorism and unrest growing in different parts of the nation.
The Anambra State former governor also urged Muslims to offer up the sacrifices of their 30-day fast and ask for divine intervention and security on the nation.
The ex-VP candidate said that the Sallah celebration also provided the opportunity for all to have self-introspection and reflect on the virtues of brotherly love and care for one another, which are apparently “drying up in our hearts”.
His words: “May we see this celebration as a point of duty, not just to pray for the nation, but to rekindle the fire of brotherly love in our hearts.
“Irrespective of the position one finds oneself, love for one another should be the guiding principle. With that, we will conquer the divisions, ethnicity, tribalism and other human vices that stagnate us as a nation”.
Obi however appealed to Nigerians to sincerely pursue the development of the nation by contributing more productively to the growth of the nation.
He urged the youths to shun violence of all kinds as that will continue to negatively impact on the nation. Obi wished Muslims happy Sallah celebration.