Author: The Nation

Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly Mudashiru Obasa has urged Muslim faithful to rededicate themselves to the religious tenets of piety, tolerance, forgiveness and love.

He noted that Ramadan is a period of sober reflection, supplications and humility before Almighty Allah.

Obasa, in his Ramadan message by his Chief Press Secretary, Eromosele Ebhomele, also congratulated Muslims in Lagos and Nigeria for the privilege of being alive to partake in ‘Sawm’ and observe one of the five pillars of Islam.

He described the Ramadan as a period for Muslims to show more commitment and adherence to the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, especially in alms giving and love for one another.

“We thank Allah for the privilege He has given us to partake in this Ramadan. We also thank Him for all that He has done for us individually, for our state and our country.

“Just as we seek the face of Allah for our individual needs at this period, let us also remember our country, especially at this time. We are happy Allah answered our Special Tawaf of last year on the presidential ambition of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. Now that victory has been recorded, let’s all use this period to pray for the success of the administration.

“As we fast, let’s not forget that alms giving is a cardinal principle in Islam, just like it is in every religion. We should spend each day sharing love and reaching out to others. The Holy Qur’an instructs us to ‘Spend in God’s cause: do not contribute to your destruction with your own hands, but do good, for God loves those who do good.’

 “Let’s not also forget to be pious, humble, tolerant of each other and obey every of Allah’s instructions now and always.”

Founder of Engineering Resource Academy, Dr Omolola Adetona, has hailed Lagos State for the Blue Line Rail project.

Adetona, who led other engineers, students and interns of the Academy on a train ride on the line on March 22, said: “LAMATA has got this ride right, and we say kudos to the government on this project. The ride was done within 10 minutes without any bad feeling because riding on the rail was very comfortable.

“We brought our young engineers to experience the Blue Line Rail as many of them have not had such an opportunity before and, by doing that, we expose them to this infrastructure because it will help to secure their future. And one way or the other, we develop them for sustainability purpose, despite the fact that the contractor of the project is a foreign firm, but what happens when they leave? Nigerians have to take responsibility for this rail and subsequent development, this is why we feel, if our young engineers are exposed to these projects, they could take it up from them.”

She thanked the government and encouraged it to deploy the remaining rails to the rescue of people who live outside the state for easier movement.

Corporate Communication Consultant of LAMATA Kolawole Ojelabi said the rail will have the capacity to process 24,000 concourses per hour, saying the government wants to ensure whoever decides to live outside of Lagos can easily do that.

“The government has also ensured safety because the tracks are fenced and equipped with CCTV cameras at the station, inside rail and on the track,” he added.

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will speak at the 16th Anyiam-Osigwe Annual Llecture Series, it has been learnt.

The lecture series will hold on March 27.

Acting Coordinator-General of the Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe Foundation, George Anyiam-Osigwe, said Johnson will analyse the central theme of the lecture, ‘Rehumanising Human Experience’, and proffer solutions to some of the global challenges afflicting the world, and local issues kindling citizens’ frustrations and hostility.

Anyiam-Osigwe said the choice of Johnson, though controversial, but was picked for his unconventional vigour and pragmatic knowledge in confronting world knotty domestic and global problems such as Brexit, COVID-19.

Also speaking, Charles Anyim-Osigwe said the event will be chaired by former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, while Governor Sanwo-Olu would speak on how he intends to return the love and unity as it was before the 2023 governorship election. He noted that the ethnic and religious undertone which the just concluded election threw up requires healing for Lagos to be whole again.

“Well, this is the core essence of the 16th edition. Our choice of Boris is because of the essentiality of the topic. As important as being a complete and loving human with feelings for people and empathy for one another, it is the hot burner topic in today’s world. 

“The recent experience of our recently concluded elections is even bringing to fore the lack of human empathy. Going up in the 60’s there was no iota of tribal identity. We were just young children growing up in love and peace. 

“There were no issues of religious identity. Where have we lost it? It’s for this reason that the foundation thought it germane to look at these critical issues. This is a very important subject on how to take practical steps to Re-Humanize human existence,” he said. On the other hand, Kennedy Anyiam-Osigwe noted that though it is a tough decision for the family but the family decided to proceed in honour of the desire of the late imporant family member who was part of the planning before her demise.

“Peace was our only sister and the last of eight children. When our brother Michael passed on 8 years ago, we took a break because it affected us. For almost eight years, we tried to analyze a lot of things in our hearts. 

“Our father was a philosopher but he never talked to us about death. He said life is life alone and that personality transcends death and that there is nothing like death. Peace, our dear sister of blessed memory was very involved in this. 

“This lecture was meant to have been held last year November before she passed on this year January. She was a champion of going back to what we know how to do. It’s just barely up to a month since we laid her to rest but I can tell you it’s not easy without her. It’s not. She was a pillar and an important member of the family”.

The International Centre for Environmental Health and Development (ICEHD), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has trained women-farmers in climate resilience and climate adaptability.

The Programme Officer, Miss Mercy Joshua, said the training, which held in Ajara, Badagry, Lagos State, and themed ‘Badagry Women Farmers Empowerment Project’, was to help strengthen their capacity to be resilient and learn strategies to face climate challenge.

She lamented that women remained economically excluded, exploited and marginalised due to socio-economic factors and cultural barriers.

“For women-farmers, particularly those in rural communities, this situation is worsened by the adverse impact of climate change. Nigeria’s climate is changing, evidenced in upsurge in temperature, variable rainfall, flooding and land degradation, with these changes bringing a gendered impact, as it disproportionately affects women and widens gender inequalities,” Joshua said.

She added that the NGO, working with the Agricultural Department of Badagry Local Government Area, had trained over 100 women-farmers in Badagry in ways to become resilient in their operations.

Country Manager, Rose of Sharon Foundation, Dr. Ndudi Bowei, said her NGO was collaborating with ICEHD to train women-farmers.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Plateau, has called for prayers for peace in Nigeria, as Muslim faithful began the Ramadan fast.

The state Chairman of CAN, Rev. Fr Polycarp Lubo, said that prayers were needed for peace in Nigeria, saying that it was crucial to shore up development.

He urged religious leaders to shun inciting messages that could cause insecurity in the country.

“I pray that the Almighty God will touch the hearts of all religious leaders to avoid sending inciting messages we have been experiencing amongst ourselves,” he said.

He wished all the Muslim Ummah a peaceful Ramadan and prayed that God answers their prayers and fasting.

THE Jigawa State government has reduced its official working hours in the state by two hours throughout the month of Ramadan.

This was contained in a statement signed by the State Head of the Civil Service, Alhaji Hussaini Ali Kila and made it available to our reporter in Dutse, JIgawa state capital.

The statement said civil servants in the state would now report to the office at 9am and close by 3pm between Monday and Thursday instead of 5pm.

“Furthermore, Workers would report to work on Fridays by 9am and close by 1pm as usual”.

He explained that the gesture is aimed at providing more opportunities to civil servants to prepare for their Ramadan break and also to have more time to observe spiritual activities of the holy Month.

Alhaji Kila stated that it is hoped that the workers would use the Ramadan period to pray for God’s guidance and blessings for the state.

By Rhoda Olatubosun, Osogbo

A foremost social club, Eko Club, has organised Ramadan free health check for members and people in the area, where tests of blood, BP, HIV, cholesterol and malaria, among others, were carried out.

Speaking at the event, held at Bamboo Elegushi Open Space Section on the premises of the club in Surulere, Lagos, the President, Mr. Razak Amodu, said the health check was organised to ascertain the health status of members before they embarked on Ramadan fast, adding that the exercise would further re-awaken members if they were fit to fast or should seek assistance medically on their health if there was one illness or the other in their body.

“The goal is to ensure our members live in good health because a healthy community is a wealthy community. When they know their health status, they will be able to take corrective measures and live in good health. I can say more than 400 members have benefited from this exercise and I’m sure more are still coming,” he said.

Amodu hailed the medical professionals in the club headed by Dr. Umar Oluwole Sanda, members of his Exco and the Welfare Secretary, Prince Sanusi Bashua, for sensitising members, who turned up en-masse for the event.

The former governor of Osun State, Adegboyega Oyetola and former governorship aspirant, Prince Dotun Babayemi yesterday urged Muslim faithful to use the period of Ramadan to pray against post-election violence.

Oyetola through its spokesperson, Ismail Omipidan in a statement felicitated Muslim brethren in the state and across the world, on the commencement of the holy month of Ramadan.

He urged them to take advantage of the holy month to strengthen their faith, seek closeness to Allah and attain piety.

He also implored Muslims and non-Muslims to demonstrate love, tolerance, empathy, compassion and peaceful coexistence in this month and beyond.

Also, Babayemi urged Muslims across Nigeria to dedicate the month-long Ramadan period to pray for the continuous stability and prosperity of the country.

Besides, Babayemi enjoined the people of the country to ensure that the post-election peace being enjoyed is not ruffled by any primordial sentiment.

Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello has urged the Muslim community to use the Holy month of Ramadan to fervently pray for peace and progress of Nigeria.

In a statement issued in Lokoja by Bello’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr Onogwu Muhammed, the governor urged the people to align themselves with the universal values of peace, kindness, love and respect for others being promoted by the Islamic faith.

Bello said: ”The Ramadan period globally is utilised by Muslim faithful across the nation to pray for progress,  peace while engaging in good deeds and acts of worship and supplication. I wish to congratulate the Muslim Ummah for witnessing another Ramadan and to wish them a blessed and peaceful Ramadan.

“The Holy month of Ramadan to millions of people  around the world has always been an opportunity to renew and strengthen our faith through rigorous prayers, reading of the Quran, reflective meditation, and carrying out charitable deeds.

“All these acts closely conform with the universal values that the Islamic faith promotes namely, peace, kindness, love and respect for others.”

Bello called on Muslims to devote more time to prayer and acts of charity as they similarly strived to improve their self-discipline motivated by hadith.

He said this year’s  Ramadan coincided with the transition of democratic leadership of the nation and many states.

Bello said that Ramadan is a time of spiritual reflection, self-improvement, and heightened devotion and worship, as  Muslims  were expected to put more effort in following the teachings of Prophet Muhammed.

Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has felicitated Muslims in the state and across the country on the commencement of the Ramadan.

The governor urged the Muslim faithful to use the opportunity of the holy month to pray relentlessly for Oyo State and Nigeria and the leadership at all levels.

He equally admonished Muslims to imbibe the teachings contained in the Holy Quran regarding the blessed month, including showing kindness and generosity.

According to the governor, the month of Ramadan is a period of spiritual uplift and complete devotion to Allah, adding that Muslims should take full advantage of the holy month to strengthen their commitment to Allah and their service to humanity.

He said: “I congratulate Muslim faithful in Oyo State and around the globe for witnessing yet another blessed month of Ramadan. We thank Allah who has made this possible. I urge my Muslim brethren to take full advantage of the period to strengthen their commitment to Allah and their service to humanity.

“They must endeavour to increase in the acts of kindness and generosity by showing love and extending hands of support to the poor and the needy, as it was the practice of Prophet Muhammad. I pray to Allah to accept all your acts of worship in this blessed month and reward us all abundantly.”