The director general of Department of State Services (DSS), Oluwatosin Adeola Ajayi, has called for greater religious harmony among Christians and Muslims in the country.
He stated this in Abuja after hosting Muslims and Christians to the breaking of the Ramadan fast, according to a statement by the secretary general Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), Prof. Khalid Aliyu Abubakar.
He described the event, which several less privileged persons and those with special needs in the city benefitted from, as a gesture of love and peace that comes with Ramadan.
The DG disclosed that, even though he is a Christian, it had become a tradition for him to identify with Muslims during the holy month, saying he believes such would help deepen religious harmony and trust, even as he looks forward to the beginning of the Lenten season in a few days.
Hundreds of Muslim faithful and scholars were led at the historic breaking of fast by the secretary general of Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), Prof. Khalid Aliyu Abubakar, Senior Imams of National Mosque Abuja, Prof. Kabir Adam, and Bar. Harun Muhammad Eze, Imam of the National Mosque.
Also present were Sheikh Dr Tajuddeen Adigun, the committee chairman of FCT Imams, Imam Fuad of Al-Habibiyyah Mosque, and Dr Bashir Abdullahi Ismail, Imam FOMWAN.
While speaking, Prof. Abubakar noted that Mr Ajayi, despite being the son of a Christian cleric, thought it significant to assemble Muslims and Christians across the Federal Capital (FCT) to break the Muslim fast, stressing that the DSS boss “made history.”
He commended the DG for his pragmatic leadership style, bridge-building, and the sense of unity with which he convened the event. Abubakar prayed for Allah’s wisdom upon the DG to help overcome the challenges of securing Nigeria.
Also speaking at the event, notable Christian leaders, including Rev. Fathers Peter Audu, Michael Banjo, and Boniface Idoko of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, as well as Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) officers in the FCT, lauded the DSS boss for his leadership style, which they said has helped make Nigeria safer.
