Mufti Ismail ibn Musa Menk, a well-known Islamic scholar, urged Nigerians to remain peaceful and united on Friday, stating that Nigeria might be the best country in Africa.
He made this statement at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja while paying President Bola Ahmed Tinubu a courtesy call.
Following the meeting, the Grand Mufti of Zimbabwe’s Muslim community and the chairman of the Council of Islamic Scholars of Zimbabwe’s fatwa department spoke, stating that he and other Islamic scholars were in Abuja for this weekend’s peace and unity conference.
Menk emphasised that in order to see this country succeed, all Nigerians must coexist peacefully and with respect for one another in spite of their diverse backgrounds and religious beliefs.
She mentioned that a delegation of scholars from all over the world was in Lagos last weekend for a convention of this kind.
According to him, the purpose of the convention was to educate Nigerians about the importance of maintaining national unity as well as to provide them the tools necessary to foster peaceful cohabitation.
Menk stated that nations failed because their people did not respect their leaders.
He went on to say that Nigeria might be the greatest country in Africa and a shining example for the rest of the continent if its people supported the government, made constructive contributions, and served the nation honourably.
He said: “We need to be a united people, we need to respect each other, the leadership that we have, we should appreciate it, we should acknowledge it. We should understand that if we are going to respect our leadership, we will be able to achieve as a nation. If you look at the countries that have failed it’s because they don’t respect their leadership and they actually fail as a result.
“But if we are going to rally behind the leadership and ensure that everyone of us contributes positively to this nation, Nigeria can be the best nation in Africa, and in all honesty, I believe the population, the resources and everything we have in Nigeria myself being an African coming from Zimbabwe, we always look at Nigeria as one of the biggest economies.
“If not the biggest in Africa, I believe it is the right time to be upright and honest and to serve the nation and in this way, we will be able to be a shiny example for the rest of Africa. I always pray that we can be upright as citizens, and that way, we will achieve more than what we’ve actually dreamt of.”
