19 Northern Imams condemn rate of unemployment in Nigeria

From Yakubu Mustapha, Minna

The Juma’at Mosques Imams of the 19 Northern states have condemned in strong terms the increasing spate of unemployment in Nigeria even as it called on government at all levels to create job opportunity to the teeming youths in the country.

This was contained in a communiqué issued after a 3-day workshop held at U.K Bello Arts and Theatre, Minna, as the forum expressed reservation over the endemic corruption in the government circle and called on the anti-corruption agencies to checkmate in order to forestall corrupt activities without fear or favour from any quarter.

It forum also frowned at the undue and incessant harassment as well the arrest of innocent Muslims particularly their clerics by security operatives in the parts of the Northern Nigeria, as it enjoined Imams to enlightened the Muslim Ummah on the need to embrace peace and support one another.

The forum, in their communiqué, drew the attention of the politicians to desist from recruiting youths as political thugs, in order to reduce criminal activities that sprung up in the past election periods even as it recommended fairness and justice by those on positions of authority as a tool for peace and harmonious co-existence among the people.

It lamented over the apparent face-off between the incumbent governors and their predecessors in the northern region, which according to them has resulted in disunity and called on them to maintained peace for the stability and progress of the region.

In the same vain, the forum has suggested the involvement of religious leaders, district heads, ward heads and village heads in tackling security situations in the country as it enjoined all Muslims, especially the wealthy ones, and to timely pay their Zakkat as such will reduce poverty in the country.

Zakkat is one of the pillars of Islam that is compulsory to those who have; also, the recently introduced Islamic banking in the country was encouraged by the forum.