Vice President Kashim Shettima has expressed grief over the death of 25 persons killed in the multiple explosions in different locations across Maiduguri, the Borno State capital on Monday.
Shettima spoke on Tuesday during the closing of the Annual Ramadan Tafsir at the State House Mosque, Abuja.
He pointed out that no religion endorses the killing of innocent lives, as the sanctity of human life remains a core tenet of major world faiths.
Shettima prayed Almighty Allah to grant the souls of those killed in the terror attack in Maiduguri eternal rest.
The vice-president also prayed to Allah to reward the victims with Al-jannah firdaus and give their families the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.
“May the lives of innocent souls – 25 of them – that lost their lives in Maiduguri last evening rest in peace.
“May Allah grant their souls eternal rest and reward them with His Al-jannah firdaus, and may Allah also grant their families the fortitude to bear the irreparable losses.
“May Allah bring this madness to an end. No religion endorses the killing of the innocent.
“Whatever that is motivating them, may Allah either guide them on to the right path or May Allah vanish them from the surface of the earth,” he said.
The vice-president emphasised the need for all Nigerians to continue to pray for the country across every sector.
He also appealed to Nigerians to pray that the Almighty should continue to grant President Bola Tinubu and members of his team wisdom, and courage to govern the country.
According to him, each season of Ramadan reminds Muslims of a truth that power often tries to hide from man.
“And that no seat is permanent, just as no office is ultimate and no human being stands above his dependence on his creator.
“In the presence of Allah, the distance between the mighty and the unknown vanishes. What remains is character, what remains is accountability, what remains is what we did with the trust placed in our hands.
“This is why gatherings such as this matters. They rescue public lives from arrogance; they retain soul to scale; they teach those entrusted with authority that the nation is not built by policy alone.
“But by conscience; not by proclamation alone but by restraint; not by ambition alone but by fear of Allah.”
Shettima called on the Muslim faithful to continue to act in line with the teachings and lessons of the month of Ramadan.
“The question before us is not whether Ramadan is ending. The question is whether its teachings will continue to live in us after the moon has changed.
“It is quite easy to cut the head when the atmosphere is charged with devotion. The harder task is to carry it into ordinary days, into the market, office, home, chamber of power, and the private corners where only Allah sees what we are doing, ” he noted.
While drawing from the lessons of Ramadan, the vice-president said the holy month thought Muslim faithful that pity without mercy is noise and worship without service is incomplete.
“So, as we close this year’s Tafsir, let us not return to the habits that weaken our common lives; let us not go back to bitterness, to reckless speech, to indifference dressed as sophistication.
“A believer doesn’t spend the whole month learning only to become a captive of anger, greed and division.
“Nigeria needs homes where children encounter good examples before good advice. Nigeria, indeed, needs leaders in every spare who understand that influence is a trust, not a license, ” Shettima said.
He lauded the Chief Imam of the State House Mosque, Sheikh Abdulwaheed Abubakar, and his lieutenant for conducting the Tafsir with wisdom, and calm hearts.
Earlier, Abubakar, the Chief Imam, prayed for sustainable peace and development of Nigerian and the success of the Tinubu administration’s policies and programmes.
The cleric emphasised the need for leaders at all levels to continue to discharge their responsibilities with the fear of Allah in order to enhance development for the country.
