The Federal Government has declared Monday October 10, as a public holiday to mark this year’s Eid-il-Mawlud Celebration.
The celebration commemorates the birth of the Holy Prophet Muhammad.
Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, confirmed this in a statement.
Aregbesola congratulated all Muslims both at home and in the Diaspora for witnessing this year’s occasion.
In a statement issued Thursday evening in Abuja and signed by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Shuaib Belgore, the minister “admonished Nigerians to imbibe the spirit of love, patience, tolerance and perseverance which are deep spiritual virtues and which the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) exemplified, adding that doing so would guarantee peace, security and harmony in the country”.
Aregbesola enjoined Nigerians, particularly Muslims, to refrain from violence, lawlessness and other acts of criminality. “As the indisputable leader of our race, we must demonstrate responsible leadership in Africa”, the Minister stated.
While calling for a stop to all divisive tendencies across the country, the Minister urged Nigerians, and the youth, in particular, to embrace the virtues of hard work and peaceful disposition towards fellow humans, irrespective of faith, ideology, social class and ethnicity and join hands with the President Muhammadu Buhari led-Administration in its effort to build a progressive and enviable nation that all citizens would be proud of.
“The Minister urges Nigerians to be security conscious, asking them to report any suspicious persons or activities to the nearest security agency and through the N-Alert application on Android and IOS, saying “when you see something do N-Alert, as this would elicit a prompt response from security agents”.
