By Mumini Abdulkareem
Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, has been identified as a period that can be used to improve the security challenges facing the country.
A Don, Prof Suleiman Muhammed Jamiu of the Kwara State University, Malete, noted this during a lecture titled “Spirituality in the Security of a Nation: Lessons from Ramadan” held at the main Auditorium, University of Ilorin, on Saturday.
According to him, most of the problems faced as a nation have to do with the reality of our high religious pronouncement which regrettably lack spiritual commitment.
He noted that most of the efforts by the government to combat insecurity in the country have mostly been hinged on physical combat approach adding that only taqwa, (fear of Allah) can effectively solve the problem.
He advised that lessons learnt from the holy month like spiritual reawakening, intuitive obedience and character training, collective value, creation of God-fearing atmosphere, feeling of unity and importance of social and physical values can positively impact on the security of the country.
“The above traits are what Muslims should learn are from fasting in the month of Ramadan and such lessons should also be put into practice on a year in year out basis, for life, then the problem of insecurity in Nigeria would be minimised.
”This is to say, Muslims after being imbibed with the above mentioned traits as lessons from Ramadan and become spiritually transformed into being conscious of the Omnipresence and Omniscience of God in all spheres of life, it should serve as a model in governance, military services, security agencies, private individual businesses, socioeconomically and politically.
“Hence, Muslims would be contributing immensely to the efforts of the government in reducing the rate of crime in Nigeria and invariably making lessons learnt in the month of Ramadan felt in tackling our security challenges”’, he added.
In his address, the Vice Chancellor, University of Ilorin, Prof Suleiman Age AbdulKareem harped on the need for the Muslim Students Society to collaborate more with leaders of the Muslim Community in the school to advance the cause of Islam.
In his vote of thanks, the chairman, Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the programme, Prof AbdulRazzaq Alaro appreciated the guests and charged them to advance the frontiers of the deen wherever they may find themselves.
Others at the event were the Head of Department of Mass Communication, University of Ilorin, Dr Lukman Azeez, his predecessor, Dr Saudah Sallah AbdulBaqi, among others.
