PRAY FOR STABILITY OF NIGERIA, OKOGIE, ORITSEJAFOR URGE MUSLIMS

By NBF News

 
NATIONAL President of Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor and the Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Okogie have urged Muslims in the country to take advantage of Ramadan to move nearer to God and pray for peace and stability of the country.

Pastor Oritsejafor and Cardinal Okogie in a seperate messages said that Muslims should see the 30-day fasting period as one in which adherents remember those less fortunate members of the society with a view to making them useful members of the community.

Oritsejafor said it was an established fact that the 30-day spiritual exercise inculcates a sense of belonging to one community, as Muslims throughout the world fast together and experience the pangs of hunger and thirst.

Cardinal Okogie in turn   enjoined Muslims to move nearer to their creator and pray for the peace and unity of the country this period of Ramadan.

In his message signed by the Director, Social Communications, Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, Very Rev. Msgr. Gabriel Osu, Okogie noted that the next 30-days of the Ramadan fast is a solemn period which offers opportunity for all Muslims to reach out to the less privileged in the society and work together towards building a just and equitable society.

'I wish to salute my brothers and sisters in Islam as they commence this year's Ramadan fast. Being a period of intense fasting and prayer, I enjoin you all to draw nearer God and pray for the peace and unity of our country Nigeria. I urge you to remain steadfast to the tenets of your religion which promotes peace and harmonious co-existence so that you may reap from the immense spiritual reward that comes with the season.'

Okogie also called on the Islamic faithful and the Clergy to pray that God may give the leaders in government the divine wisdom to tackle the current spate of insecurity being experienced in the land, noting that no nation can achieve meaningful progress in the midst of chaos and insecurity.