Kunle ADELABU
-Urge govt to do more for people
Two royal fathers in Ikorodu division, His Royal Majesties, Oba Kabiru Shotobi, the Ayangbure of Ikorodu, Oba Semiudeen Kasali, the Adeborwa of Igbogbo and the Majority Leader, Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Sanai Agunbiade, have appealed to the people to be more tolerant and love one another.
They made this appeal while speaking with THE IMPACT during the Sallah celebration in Ikorodu.
The royal fathers also urged government, at federal, state and local levels, to implement more masses-oriented policies.
His Royal Majesty, Oba Kabiru Shotobi, the Ayangbure of Ikorodu, in his own remarks, greeted residents of Ikorodu and urged them to be tolerant and be patient with the government.
“That we are all here to observe the eid prayer shows that the Islamic religion is still thriving in Ikorodu and people still have sense of belonging. The festival is peaceful and I want to say Barka de Sallah to everyone and also commend the people of Ikorodu for their religious tolerance.
“I enjoin Muslim faithful to continue to be tolerant and be our brothers’ keeper.
“Muslims must ensure that the rams they slaughter for Ileya celebration are shared for the people in the community. If possible, also give them food along with it . I also want them to be law abiding and be patient with the government.
“Government is trying and we should know that there job is a always continuous exercise. A new government has just come on board and we believe that it will benefit us”.
Oba Semiudeen Kasali, the Adeboruwa of Igbogbo, in his own Sallah message shortly after the sallah prayer, enjoined residents to maintain peace and love one another.
While congratulating Muslim faithful and others on the occasion of the Sallah celebration, he also charged residents to believe in God for the acceptance of their prayers.
“My clear message to all of us is a simple message of peace and love. The spirit of this period is that we must keep faith with God Almighty and expect that everything that we seek and yearn for shall be answered.
“I want to use this opportunity to congratulate Muslims globally and non-Muslims too because we are all celebrating together. The brotherliness that we shared in the spirit should be allowed to continue.
“We also pray for our country for peace and tranquility to continue to reign in it. Where there is instability, we pray that God should stand by us in clearing the land of our sins and restore peace”.
The royal father urged government at local, state and federal levels to be masses friendly.
“We pray and urge our government to continue to have the masses at heart. Lots of people are complaining but we have continued to give them hope, not to take law into their own hands and expect that things would turn better.
“We are also expecting the present government to do the needful.
“As the first point of contact at the grassroots, we will continue to appeal to the government that they should make masses oriented projects their major focus.
The monarch also used the Sallah period to urged Lagos State Government to start work on the abandoned Ipakodo-Igbogbo-Igbe road project and pay compensation to residents whose houses were demolished to pave way for right of way for the road construction.
‘Within my domain here, we look forward to the government to complete the Igbogbo/Igbe road. We also expect that compensation will be paid to people whose houses have been demolished.
“We seek for improvement in our health, educational and infrastructural facilities. We want more private presence in our community so that more work will be available for our youths because there is restiveness everywhere”.
Speaking on the significance of Eid-el-Kabir, Oba Kasali stated that it has enormous social and economic impacts on the people and the society at large.
“The significance of the celebration can be seen in the spirit of the period. The well-to-do muslims will have to do sacrifice by spending money in buying rams and other things from those that are selling them .
“At the same time, the have-not in the society will reap from their sacrifices. You are not expected to kill ram in your home and eat it alone. You must share with people that do not kill rams. By so doing, hunger is reduced in the land throughout the period of sallah and beyond.
“Overall, the country will reap from the prayers because God will listen to all that we seek and yearn for in the spirit of the celebration”.
Hon. Sanai Agunbiade, the representative of Ikorodu Constituency I and the Majority Leader of the Lagos State House of Assembly, in his own message after the Sallah prayer, urged residents to be law abiding and have faith in God.
The four term lawmaker also urged the people to cooperate amongst themselves to have their requests from the government met.
“My message is that my people should be law abiding and love themselves. Ikorodu has great potentials and it can only manifest when we cooperate with ourselves. We should support our governments, at the council, state and the federal levels, so that our deserving entitlements can come to us.
“I have no doubt that the present government will do more for the people” he added
“I wish everybody Barka de Sallah”.
Also speaking on the significance of the celebration, Hon. Agunbiade said that it has social and significance impacts on the people and society at large.
He urged residents to be faithful and obey God for their prayers to be answered.
“As it has been said, it is a festival that emanated from Abraham having being commanded by God to sacrifice his son and he obeyed Him, God in return replaced the son with a ram.
“That shows that there is nothing that God cannot do for us if we are obedient to Him”, he assured.
“The significance of the celebration on the social and economic spheres are that many will buy rams from those breeding them, thereby, empowering them financially. They will also buy rice, pepper, oil and other things. These has significant impact on our social and economic lives.
“During Ileya festival, a lot of people sell and make profit. It is an important festival with great impacts on the society. Many buy clothes and other things too”.
