The Speaker of Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin has charged Nigerians not to lose hope in Allah as demonstrated by Prophet Ibrahim and his son, Ismail during their trying times.
The Speaker said that the sacrifice of hope paid by the duo brought about the celebration of EId-el-Kabir that Muslim all over the world enjoying today.
Hon Ogundoyin in his Salah message urged Nigerians to emulate the level of obedience and devotion demonstrated by Prophet Ibrahim and his son as to receive uncommon mercy and favor from Allah.
While congratulating Muslims across the country particularly in Oyo State, the Oyo State Speaker urged them to use the opportunity to renew their faith in almighty Allah and demonstrate unalloyed obedience as exhibited by Prophet Ibrahim, who was known as the Father of Faith.
Hon. Ogundoyin extended his congratulatory message to Islamic faithful in the 9th Oyo State House of Assembly, cabinet of the Oyo State Governor as well as the teeming Muslims in Ibarapa East state constituency and prayed Allah to grant them the joy, happiness, benefits and outstanding merits and benevolence of the celebration.
“The Feast of Sacrifice dated back to the historic event when Prophet Ibrahim was commanded by God, in a form of a dream to sacrifice his son, Ismail. But while he was in the act of sacrificing his son, Allah sent Angel Jubril with a ram to replace his son hence the slaughtering of ram by the Muslims during the festival. The story is mentioned in Chapter 37 of the Holy Qur’an. If we as a nation increase our faith in our Creator and demonstrate our obedience to him, then our prayer requests for our dear country especially on the myriads of challenges like corruption and insecurity confronting us will be answered” Hon. Ogundoyin stressed.
The Speaker who noted that the feast of sacrifice this year is being hampered by COVID-19 pandemic, however stressed that the unfortunate situation should not prevent Islamic faithful, their families and millions of Nigerians from enjoying the celebration, sharing food especially meat with their families, the poor and their neighbors as well as reflecting on the grand teachings of Eid-l- Kabir which is obedience to the Creator.
Ogundoyin appealed to Muslims and others who will be joining in the celebration to adhere strictly to precautionary measures against Coronavirus as the pandemic is still very much with us.
According to him, the Oyo State Governor, Engr Seyi Makinde is relentless in the fight against COVID-19 and decided to open mosques and Eid prayer grounds with the firm believe that the laid down precautions on preventing the virus will be followed.
“We should not throw our nose masks away as we celebrate. Let us make sanitizers available for use at regular intervals. We should also observe physical distancing to avoid contracting the deadly virus”, Speaker added.
Hon. Ogundoyin, therefore, prayed that Allah to rid the whole world of the pandemic and wished the Muslims happy Eid-l-Kabir celebration.
Packaged by Kunle Gazali
