JUST few days earlier the Chief of Army Chief also organize some Christian to pray for the army.
By George Onmonya Daniel Borno
Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum has entered an arrangement with 30 residents of Makkah who will on permanent basis, offer daily ‘Dawaf’ (circumambulation of the holy Ka’aba ) to offer prayers for the return and sustenance of peace in Borno State and the rest of Nigeria. The 30 persons, all of them with Nigerian origin from Borno, Katsina, Zamfara, Kano and parts of the northwest, have for tens of years devoted themselves to spending hours at the Ka’aba everyday for the purpose of worship. An old man amongst them, is said to have remained a Ka’aba devotee in the last 40 years. The Ka’aba is Islam’s holiest area located inside the grand Al-Haram mosque in Makkah. The Governor’s spokesman, Malam Isa Gusau, who shared this at the weekend, said the critical move aimed to combine different approaches that include sustained support for the Nigerian Armed forces, aggressive mass recruitment and equipping of more counter-insurgency volunteers into the Civilian JTF, hunters and vigilantes as well as socioeconomic approach in enhancing access to education, job opportunities and providing other means of livelihood through social protection initiatives. Gusau, who was present during Governor Zullum’s brief interaction with the devotees on Friday evening around the Ka’aba, said the Governor was there to convey his deepest gratitude and to seek continued prayers. “Rather than sending anyone, I am here to, on behalf of the good people of Borno State thank you so much for your empathy and the compassion in devoting yourselves to praying for us every day at the Ka’aba which for us as Muslims, is the most sacred place. We need these prayers more than ever before. We are handling our problem from different approaches. Prayer is key in everything that we seek. We will continue to seek prayers from many fronts. We will keep supporting our clerics of different faiths in Nigeria for the same prayers and we will seek the same from all of you that are always here around the Holy Ka’aba. I basically will beg that you continue to pray for us towards achieving three things: first, for us to regain peace in Borno State, all of the north and Nigeria in general. We will have to continue that prayer on permanent basis because we need peace that will be sustained. Secondly, we need prayers for us to achieve our ambitious plan for Borno state and lastly for Allah to make us remain focused and not to get carried away by power” Zullum told the devotees, as quoted by his spokesperson. Gusau explained that the Governor has already returned to Nigeria on Saturday. The government has not explain how much it is paying for this prayer