President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has attended a special remembrance prayer for the continuous repose of his late mother Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji who passed on in June, 2013.
Tinubu also inaugurated the construction of 330 boreholes nationwide in her honour.
The special prayer session which was said to have held during the weekend at Shagari Mosque, Area 1, Abuja, was organized by the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs in collaboration with some Islamic clerics.
The prayer session witnessed high attendance by politicians, government functionaries, Islamic scholars and worshippers.
There was the recitation of the Holy Qur’an as well as special prayers for the President’s mother, by select Islamic clerics.
Executive Secretary of National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of- School Children, Dr. Mohammad Idris who paid glowing tribute to the life and achievements of Alhaja Mogaji, commended the President for being a worthy son to his late mother.
He said: “One thing about the President is that in spite of the multiplicity of problems, he is someone who by this action demonstrated to Nigerians that you can be President, and you can be much busy even when you don’t expect, yet you have to have time for your mother, you have to remember the grave of your mother, you have to spend your time for your mother.
“The President came here to say his jumat prayers and he took almost 40 minutes listening to various prayers. That goes to inform you about the fear of God inherent in him, courtesy of the training he received from his mother. For me as far as I know, this is unprecedented. President of a country like Nigeria, sitting and listening to scholars offering prayers for his mother and for his mother alone.
“The President today is more than overwhelmed and willing to do anything for anybody. That goes to show that mother occupies a serious attention in the mind of the President and so Nigerians should also emulate; that no matter how busy you are, no matter how engaged you are, no matter how highly placed you are by Allah, you should give thanks to your mothers and you should remember your late mothers,” he said.
He added that it was a known tradition in Islam that whoever dies, when you leave a righteous son, “like our President who is today not only praying for his mother but teaching us as Nigerians, that we should please, endeavour to pray for our parents, that they deserve our prayers, they deserve our attention and time, that unless we remember our parents God will unleash his anger on us.
“I also want to use this medium to say that sometimes in Nigeria, the easiest thing you could do is to blackmail, to insult, and say bad things. People do not see anything good in people in authority. But let us for the first time see this as an act that is worthy of emulation and commendation because mothers are meant to be cherished and celebrated by all of us”.
He enjoined Nigerians to allow the President to operate at the pace he is doing and to join hands with him in charting a new course for the development of the nation, saying very soon, people would realise that “this woman has given to Nigeria a good leader that will make Nigerians raise their heads tall in the face of other countries”.
According to him, Nigerians would soon realise that God has given the country someone that would turn around the fortunes of the country to the direction, citizens have been clamouring for and that he was sure God would through him show the nation that way.
The Governor of Katsina State, Dikko Umar Radda who was one of the organisers also noted that the construction of 330 boreholes would bring life and hope to communities across the country.
He explained that the boreholes would provide free water for members of the benefiting communities and enhance the quality of life for many.
In a sermon before the two rakas Sheikh Sani Abubabakar, urged leaders at all levels to discharge their responsibilities with the fear of God.
He also enjoined civil servants in the country to uphold the rules of the service, because everybody would account for his deeds on the day of judgement.
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