By Adebisi Adeyemi Lagos, Nigeria
Wife of the Governor of Lagos State, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode, has called for love and peaceful co-existence among the citizenry, during and after the Ramadan.
She made the call during the evening prayer and fast-breaking (Iftar) by Muslim faithful, at Lagos House, Ikeja.
Mrs. Ambode said that the Ramadan period represented love, forgiveness, peaceful co-existence and the need to extend a helping hand to the less privileged in the society.
The Governor’s wife said that Nigeria needed love and peaceful co-existence to strengthen and surmount all challenges confronting her as a nation.
According to her, “For any country to thrive, she needs love and peaceful co-existence to strengthen the social bond, and overcome any challenge confronting it as a nation. It is only when we allow love to grow in our hearts irrespective of religion, language and tribe barrier that we can collectively as a nation surmount any challenge confronting us”.
Speaking further, she said that fasting during this period of Ramadan should not just consist of refraining from eating and drinking, but from every kind of selfish desire and wrong-doing.
She said, “Fasting during this Ramadan period does not just consist of refraining from eating and drinking, but from every kind of selfish desire and wrong-doing. The fast is not merely of the body, but essentially that of the spirit as well”.
The Governor’s wife urged the gathering to develop and strengthen the powers of self control, attain nearness and closeness to God, so as to intensify the consciousness of God in our hearts, resulting in a higher spiritual experience and to continue to give to the less privileged, not at Ramadan alone but at all times.
Mrs. Ambode thanked them for the prayer offered for the state, the first family, cabinet members and the nation at large, just as she urged them to continue to intercede with their prayers and prayed that they would all live to witness many more Ramadan on earth.
Gifts were also distributed to the gathering in the spirit of the season.
