President Muhammadu Buhari who
recalled meeting with the scholars during the last Ramadan period in 2015,
revealed that he had similar meetings with Christian clerics before the
beginning of Ramadan period.
Buhari’s comment is coming
hours after the northern zone of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)
accused him of sidelining Christians in appointment.
The President on Tuesday
said he has met with Christian from all over the country and exchanged ideas
with them.
Speaking when he hosted
some Islamic clerics to breaking of Ramadan fast at the presidential villa in
Abuja, Buhari called on religious leaders to intensify prayers for a better and
progressive Nigeria.
“I’m very pleased we have
actually met. Before the Ramadan I met our Christians brothers, from all over
the country and we exchanged ideas with them,” he said.
“I’m very pleased, we
realised that this is our problem; the country’s problem is our problem. Nobody
will solve it for us. We pray very hard to God. We work very hard and let us
continue that way.
“If we have problems, this
is the only country we have. I said it more than 30 years ago. We quickly go
out, we go to pray in Saudi Arabia, we go maybe to other developed countries,
but this is home.
“This is where God put us
and we have to stay here and pray many times per day for God to guide us so
that we can leave a better country to the next generation.”
Buhari enjoined the
religious leaders to continue to preach the virtues of peace, tolerance and
understanding among their followers to ensure speedy transformation of the
country.
Tajudeen Mohammad, chief
imam of Zone 3 Juma’at Mosque, who spoke on behalf of the clerics, reiterated
their determination to continue to pray for peace and rapid development of the
country.
Mohammad commended the
president for taking radical measures in dealing with the numerous challenges
facing the country.
“Our lamentation was on the
state of the nation then, the insecurity in the country. We emphasized on this
table to you, sir, that you should take radical measures towards solving the
malaise and other vices facing the nation,” he said.
“Today, we are happy to be
here and to thank you that God has given you the opportunity in dealing with
the problems.”
He said they would continue
to pray for the president to enable him to tackle other socio-economic
challenges being experienced by Nigerians.
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