UNITY and brotherhood have been described as veritable tools to address the political and economic disadvantages being faced by Muslims in Oyo State and Nigeria as a whole.
This was the consensus of clerics from across local government areas in Ibadan at an enlarged stakeholders meeting of the Egbeda Muslim Community held at the Alarere Community Central Mosque, Ibadan.
The lead speaker at the programme and the Chief Missioner of the Muslim Community of Oyo State (MUSCOYS), Dr Daud Amoo-Alaga, emphasised the need for Muslims to be united, well organised and coordinated to have their fair share of dividends of governance, especially in Oyo State.
Dr Amoo-Alaga noted that it had become imperative for Muslims to shun divisive tendencies and accommodate one another.
“Our Qibla is one, we have one creed, and we worship one God (Allah). Thus, we must overlook individual differences and strengthen the bond of Islam,” he said.
The renowned cleric admonished Muslims not to mortgage eternal bliss for worldly gains.
He described political power as the structure upon which every other thing is built and therefore stressed the need to view politics through the religious lens and avoid mistakes that could affect Islam and Muslims negatively.
The Chairman, Ibadan Muslim Community, Chief Bayo Oyero, said the gathering was to awaken the consciousness of Muslims on priority reordering.
Chief Oyero, who was represented by the Secretary, Ibadan Muslim Community, Dr Andulhakeem Raji, said lack of comprehensive database which had deprived Muslims of numerous palliatives and intervention programmes from the federal and state governments would soon become a thing of the past.
According to Oyero, the community is working hard to produce accurate and reliable database of Muslims across the 11 local government areas of Ibadanland.
He appealed to representatives of the various Muslim communities to attend the central meeting with a view to disseminating vital information to people.
The Chairman, Egbeda Muslim Community, Sheikh MuhammaduJamiu Abdulgafar, disclosed that five committees had been inaugurated to achieve the goal of Islamic unity and progress.
He named the groups as reconciliation, education, health, economic and investment and interfaith committees.
Sheikh Abdulgafar stated that the Egbeda Muslim Community would work with Muslims in the Diaspora, traders, artisans, mosques, government-owned and private Muslim schools, Islamic prayer groups among others for all-inclusive mobilisation.
In a remark, the chairman of Lagelu Muslim Community, Sheikh Ahmad Alapaafuja, commended the leadership of Egbeda Muslim Community and the leagues of imams and alfas and promised to step up efforts to achieve unity.
A high point of the programme was a free medical test and drug administration for 100 beneficiaries.
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