Former Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has urged
Muslims to use the Ramadan period to pray for Nigeria as the country tackles
the COVID-19 scourge.
Atiku urged Muslims
to pray because COVID-19 has paralyzed the social lives of Nigerians, including
congregating for religious activities.
In his message to
mark the beginning of Ramadan, the former Vice President urged Muslims to obey
all safety guidelines laid down by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control,
NCDC, while observing the religious exercise.
The message he
personally signed reads: “My message to Muslim Ummah on commencement of 2020
Ramadan.
“This has not been
the best of times for us as a people and as a nation. Ditto for the global
community.
“The novel coronavirus,
which originated from Wuhan in China has spread to no less than 210 countries
and territories as at today.
“Sadly Nigeria has
not been spared this scourge. Since our first incident case in February, we
have seen the figure rise to 981 with 31 deaths as at April 23, 2020. The good
news however is that thanks to our heroic healthcare workers, 197 of the cases
have recovered.”
The former Vice
President called on Muslims and Nigerians in general to make sacrifices in a
bid to tackle the virus.
Atiku lamented that
social lives of Nigerians have been disrupted by the lockdown order.
He said: “But we’ve
had to make sacrifices, and much more is required of us in the days ahead if we
must defeat the scourge of this plague. Our social life has been disrupted by
the lockdown of sections of our country and the practice of social distancing.
“In the last three
weeks, we have been unable to gather to fulfil our religious obligations to
worship the Almighty Allah. The lesser hajj has been suspended.
“My dear Muslim
Ummah, this is the reality as we commence this year’s Ramadan.
“I urge the Muslim
faithful to pray for the country at this difficult moment when the #COVID19
plague has paralysed every aspect of our social lives.
“This is a moment of
trial because for the first time in our recent history, we have never seen
anything like this in terms of limitations on the activities we once performed
without hindrance.
“Above all, it is
imperative that we observe all guidelines of @NCDCgov aimed at stemming the
spread of the virus, much so as it is the teaching of the Noble Prophet
Mohammed (SWT) during plague seasons such as this.
“I supplicate to
Allah to answer our prayers and help us overcome this extraordinary challenge
soonest, and put our country on the path of renewal and prosperity.
RamadanMubarak.”
Meanwhile, the
Nigeria Center for Disease Control, NCDC, on Thursday confirmed 108 new cases
of COVID-19 across the country.
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