By Damilola Kushimo
The Chief Imam of Ishagatedo Central Mosque, Alhaji Abdul-Razak Temitope Orebiyi, said the government especially at the local level needs to engage the religious leaders to brainstorm on insecurity and other issues in the community.
According to him, religious leaders have important roles to play in fighting insecurity and finding solutions to other issues affecting the development of the society.
Orebiyi, who doubles as the Co-Chairman of Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), Isolo LCDA, noted that the religious leaders have been neglected by the government especially at the local level as he called for more engagement between the government and religious leaders in the community.
“We pray for our leaders from time to time and we will do more of that during this holy month. In fact, every last Friday, we organise special prayer for our local council here because prayer is one of the ways we can contribute to the development of the society. Parents, on their end, should also make sure that their children do not depart from the way of Allah because if you observe those boys terrorising the community, they are teenagers.
He urged the government to always engage religious leaders in the community because they are major stakeholders.
“The idea of stretching NIREC to the local government is great but it has been long since the government engaged us on our contribution towards ensuring peace in the community. The government needs to explore the option of timely meeting with the religious leaders as they used to do some years back. They can always engage us in a periodic brainstorming session on how best to handle the security matters and ensure peace in the community. They should involve the religious leaders to get a good result,” he said.
Meanwhile, the cleric implored the Muslims to sustain their good deeds and improve their cordial relationship with Allah beyond Ramadan period.
The Chief Imam, who spoke on the topic “The Importance of Good Moral in Islam” during a Ramadan lecture organised in the mosque recently, explained that the guidelines of the Holy Qur’an during Ramadan are what are expected of Islamic faithfuls every day as he condemned every form of sin and urged Muslims to abstain from them.
