Happy Eid-el-Kabir

Across the world, Muslim faithful will today mark the feast of Eid-el-Kabir or the feast of sacrifice. It is also called Eid al-Adha. The festival, regarded as one of the most important feasts in Islamic Calendar, is usually celebrated with prayers, charity, love and sharing of gifts with friends and the needy in commemoration of Prophet Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice his son, Ishmael, before Allah intervened and gave him a ram to sacrifice instead of his son. The feast is celebrated with the slaughter of ram, cow, goat and others depending on one’s preference. The meat is shared among family members, friends, the poor and the needy.

For Nigerian Muslim faithful, the feast is coming at a time of rising insecurity across the country and abduction of schoolchildren in the North West geo-political zone. It is also taking place at a period the nation is witnessing the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic, especially the deadly variant of the disease. In spite of this, we call on the faithful to celebrate the occasion with moderation and also observe all COVID-19 protocols and prevent further spread of the disease.

The event offers them the opportunity to pray for peace and harmony in the country among the ethnic groups that make up the country. While they celebrate the Eid-el-Kabir, they must remember the significance of the feast. The season calls for sober reflection among the Muslim faithful and peaceful living with other Nigerians.

On the part of political office holders, they should use the occasion to rededicate themselves to the service of the country. Since it is a season of love and sharing, it behoves on the Muslim faithful to remember their neighbours, the aged, the sick and the less privileged in the society.

We also enjoin Nigerian leaders to use the occasion of the festival to show love and empathy to their citizens, who bear the brunt of prevailing economic hardship and social anomie. Let them come up with implementable programmes to alleviate poverty and lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty as the government has promised.

We call on our political leaders to attend to the needs of their citizens. Due to increasing abduction of schoolchildren by bandits and other criminal elements, we urge the Federal Government to rise to the occasion and protect all Nigerians and foreigners living in the country.

We say this bearing in mind that the primary purpose of government, as stipulated in the 1999 Constitution (as amended), is the welfare and security of the people. With the endless killings and abductions in some parts of the country, the government cannot be said to have kept faith with this provision of the constitution. The security architecture of Nigeria must be revamped without further delay.

Therefore, we use this occasion to renew our call on government to do all within its powers to defeat the Boko Haram insurgents in the North East, the banditry and abduction in the North West and the general insecurity in other zones of the country. Let the security agents redouble their efforts to check the increasing insecurity in keeping with the recent marching orders given to them by President Muhammadu Buhari. Let the police and other security agencies ensure adequate security during and after the Eid celebration.

We felicitate with the Muslim faithful on the celebration of the great event and urge them to pray for peace to reign in the country. We also wish them Allah’s guidance and blessings during the period. They should also imbibe the lessons of the festival. We believe that if the lessons of the feast are imbibed by the faithful, Nigeria will fare better among comity of nations. 

We wish all Muslim faithful a Happy Eid-el-Kabir celebration.