Hijrah Celebration: Nigerian Government Urged to Address Food Insufficiency
By Tunde Akanbi, Ilorin
The National Chairman of the Hijrah Organisation of Nigeria, Professor Badmus Olarenwaju Yusuf, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration to address the agonising issue of inflation in the country to reduce suffering among the masses.
Speaking at the celebration of the Hijrah 1445 A.H. at the Ilorin township stadium in the state capital, Professor Yusuf, an Islamic scholar at the University of Ilorin, said that the inflation situation has continued to have a negative effect on the socio-economic welfare and development of the populace.
According to him, the current increase in the inflation index has led many families into untold hardship as many families cannot meet their obligations.
He added that even with the recent increase in the pump price of fuel from N515 to N617 per litre, the economic propensity of Nigerians to have money to buy this product is low and this is serious for our economic development as a nation.
The don stressed that their major request from the state and federal governments is to address these prevalent situations like the insecurity logjam which is facing us frequently and called on the governments to address the problem of inflation and food shortage.
Yusuf also used the occasion “to call on Muslims to be conscious of western conspiracy on the adulterated Quran and anti-Islam literature such as the Triangle of Monotheism which is a compilation of some passages in Quran, Taorah and Injil which is totally unacceptable as a substitute to the Qur’an”.
“The stand of the Muslims is that Quran is the revelation from Allah to Prophet Muhammed for the guidance of the ummah as are widely in circulation”.
Yusuf, however, warned the returning pilgrims from the Holy Land of Saudi Arabia to desist from all anti-Islamic reception and activities that are capable of invalidating the journey to the Holy Land.
Also in his Hijrah message at the event, the National Missioner of Ansar ul Islam Society of Nigeria, Sheikh Abdulmumin Ayara called on President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to address the possible effect of the new fuel price increase on the masses of the country.
He lamented that one can spend over N15,000 on fuel for township trips in just a day.
He argued that Ilorin is a peaceful and accommodating city to both indigenes and non-indigenes, saying that the state capital can be referred to as an Islamic community like someone said that a state belonged to a religion.
Sheikh Ayara, however, urged Muslims to continue to live in peace so as to move the nation forward.
Sheikh Abdulrazaq Adama Thanni, who represented Madrul Markaz, and Sheikh Habbebulahi Adam Al-Ilory, said that for the nation to enjoy sustainable peace in the country, the government should address food sufficiency through the promotion of agriculture.
He advised the government to use the Sambiza forest to cultivate agriculture in order to check the insurgency.
Dominica Nwabufo