The Minister of the Nigerian Federal Capital Territory FCT, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has tasked residents of the territory on the need to tolerate one another irrespective of their religious beliefs and political differences and live in peace.
The was contained in a statement personally signed by the FCT Minister in Abuja, Nigeria’s Capital as part of his Eid-al-Adha Sallah message to the residents of the FCT.
He assured residents of the FCT to rest assured that the FCT Administration is doing its best to ensure the security of lives and property both during and after the festivities.
The Minister also appealed to all the residents to be security concious in the course of the festivities and report any suspicious activities to the relevant security agencies.
According to him, ” on behalf of the FCT Administration, I hereby extend my warmest felicitations to all residents of the Federal Capital Territory, especially the Muslim Ummah on the celebration of this year’s Eid-el-Kabir.
” The Sallah celebration provides us with the unique opportunity to offer supplications to Almighty Allah for the continuous growth and development of our country. Let us therefore pray for peace and the collective ability to surmount our current challenges“, he added.
Bello enjoined the residents to use this occasion to meditate on, and give expression to the lifestyle of Prophet Ibrahim especially on the virtues of sacrifice and selflessness which Eid-el-Kabir symbolizes.
Malam Bello stressed that, ” as residents of our nation’s capital, we should consider it our obligation to live up to the dreams and ideals of our founding fathers who also made enormous sacrifices in the quest of making Abuja the Center of Nigeria’s unity and a melting pot of our various cultures, traditions and ideas.
It is imperative therefore that we imbibe these ideals of sacrifice and nation building as exemplified by Prophet Ibrahim and our founding fathers to build an FCT and Nigeria of our collective desires”.
He also reminded them that as they celebrate, they should be conscious that there is the possibility of an occurrence of a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
” Residents are once more encouraged to enjoy the celebrations from the safety of their homes as attendance of large gatherings increases the risk of contacting the virus”
While the FCT Administration has put in place measures to curtail its spread, residents also have the responsibility to safeguard themselves by adhering to the prescribed non-pharmaceutical preventive measures of facial covering, hand washing and physical distancing“, Bello alerted.
Nnenna.O
