The federal government of Nigeria has declared Tuesday, July 20, and Wednesday, July 21 as public holidays to mark the 2021 Eid-el-Kabir celebration.
Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Interior, made the announcement in a statement on Thursday.
He congratulated all Muslim faithful and Nigerians at home and in the diaspora on the celebration.
Aregbesola urged Muslim to allow the lessons of the celebration reflect in their day-to-day activities.
He further called on Muslims to continue to imbibe the spirit of love, peace, kindness and sacrifice, as exemplified by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) and to also use the period to pray for peace, unity, prosperity and the stability of the country, considering the challenges of insecurity we face at the moment.
The challenges he listed are bandits in the North West and North Central, insurgents in the North East, kidnappers, armed robbers, ethnic agitators, and sundry criminals in other parts of the country.
He added that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is “committed to the security of lives and property of every Nigerian, and empowering the citizens for successful living, the provisions of social investments programmes and adequate security in the schools, especially with the spate of innocent school children being targets of kidnapping.”
Aregbesola, while wishing the Muslim faithful a happy Eid-el Kabir celebration, advised all Nigerians to take responsibility by reporting any suspicious individuals and criminal activities to law enforcement agencies, especially during this festival
