Borno State Governor, Prof Babagana Umara Zulum has entered an arrangement with 30 residents of Makkah who will on permanent basis, offer daily ‘Dawaf’ (circumambulation of the holy Ka’aba ) to offer prayers for the return and sustenance of peace in Borno State and the rest of Nigeria.
The 30 persons, all of Nigerian origin, from Borno, Katsina, Zamfara, Kano and other parts of the North-west, have for years devoted themselves to spending hours at the Ka’aba everyday for the purpose of worship. An old man amongst them, is said to have remained a Ka’aba devotee in the last 40 years. The Ka’aba is Islam’s holiest area located inside the grand Al-Haram Mosque in Makkah.
The governor’s spokesman, Malam Isa Gusau, who shared this at the weekend, said the critical move aimed to combine different approaches to fight insurgency.
The approaches include sustained support for the Nigerian Armed forces, aggressive mass recruitment and equipping of more counter-insurgency volunteers into the Civilian JTF, hunters and vigilantes as well as socio-economic approach in enhancing access to education, job opportunities and providing other means of livelihood through social protection initiatives.
Gusau, who was present during Governor Zulum’s brief interaction with the devotees on Friday evening around the Ka’aba, said the governor was there to convey his deepest gratitude and to seek continued prayers.
The governor was quoted as saying, “Rather than sending anyone, I am here to, on behalf of the good people of Borno State thank you so much for your empathy and the compassion in devoting yourselves to praying for us every day at the Ka’aba which for us as Muslims, is the most sacred place. We need these prayers more than ever before.
“We are handling our problem from different approaches. Prayer is key in everything that we seek. We will continue to seek prayers from many fronts. We will keep supporting our clerics of different faiths in Nigeria for the same prayers and we will seek the same from all of you that are always here around the Holy Ka’aba.
