By Ekuson Nw’Ogbunka ,Abuja
The Asu Geri of Idu Community, the host community of Idu Industrial Area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Chief Muhammad BawaMakama has advised Muslim faithfuls in his domain to observe the Ramadan Kareem with patience and total submission to the will of Almighty Allah.
The traditional ruler gave the message to his subjects at the beginning of the year 2023 Ramadan Kareem in his palace recently.
Ramadan is observed by Muslims all over the world to fast and pray to Allah in line with Islamic injunctions.
Sending his message across, the village chief however said that Ramadan Kareem is observed
yearly to mark the date and month when Almighty Allah brought Holy Quran down from heaven to Prophet Mohammed. To this, he urged all Muslim faithfuls to observe it in line with the Islamic injunctions.
During the period, he went on, the Muslim faithfulsuse the opportunity to fast, pray and ask for forgiveness of sins and favour from God, even as he added that they use the period to forgive each other his or her tresspasses. He further said that Ramadan Kareem is observed yearly to change from bad to good, adding that ability to change from bad to good will go a long way for them to obtain mercy from Allah. He said that fasting with sincerity brings one very close to Allah, who in turn listens and grants his requests.
Calling on the Federal Government (FG) to address cash crunch, caused by the full implementation of cashless policy and the redesigning of some naira notes, Chief Muhammad Bawa Makama however said that since the redesigning of some of the naira notes, which according to him, started in 2022, the currency has continued to be scarce to the detriment of the masses. This he said has caused a lot of hardship to the people, preventing them from having access to their money to solve their financial problems.
Noting that the 2023 Ramadan Kareem and Christian Lent coincided, he said that releasing of money into circulation by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would help the Muslim and Christian faithfuls to go about their fasting and praying effectively. Enjoining those who have to give to those who don’t have, he cited example of a Christian in Kaduna who supplied bags of food items to Muslim faithfuls as a support in their Ramadan Kareem.
The Asu Geri of Idu however enjoined the politicians at the FCT, states and federal levels to go about their struggles with the fear of God, adding that when two elephants are fighting, it is the grasses that suffer it. “So it is the masses that suffer for the politicians’ continued power tussle. Let them have fear of God in whatever they are doing for the interest of the poor,” he advised.
