Onaiyekan, Al-Habibiyah Islamic Society Share Free Food in Abuja

Onaiyekan, Al-Habibiyah Islamic Society Share Free Food in Abuja

Cardinal John Onaiyekan, the former archbishop of Abuja, has joined the Al-Habibiyah Islamic Society in distributing free food to Muslims to break their fast in Abuja.

Over 3,000 plates of food were shared at the event held on Saturday at the Al-Habibiyah central mosque in Guzape district of Abuja.

Onaiyekan was accompanied by Peter Ogunmuyiwa, archbishop of African diocese and the north, and Agatha Chikelue, executive director of the Cardinal Onaiyekan Foundation for Peace (COFP).

The National Chief Imam of Al-Habibiyah Islamic Society, Fuad Adeyemi, commended Onaiyekan “for the initiative and for being father all the time”.

Adeyemi described Nigeria as a unique country in terms of religious composition and co-existence.

“If we want to preach our religion, the best way to preach it is in a peaceful way,” he said.

“You can convince me that your religion is better than my own if you are the best to humanity. If you are the one that can make everyone happy with your actions, then you are telling me that you are better than me.

“It’s not by bringing out gun, it’s not by bringing out swords or knives and beginning to kill ourselves.”

The cleric lamented that some people have been giving Nigeria a bad name with their actions attributed to religion.

“We are challenged today. We have people who have been giving us different names and we need to show to the world that Nigeria is a unique country,” he said.

“There’s no country like Nigeria when it comes religion. We have a very high number of Christians and we have a high number of Muslims and yet we are cohabiting peacefully.

“And when enemies come in, they want us to see ourselves as enemies.”

Onaiyekan noted that the convergence of Ramadan and Lent was not an accident but a divine directive for Muslims and Christians to put their heads together and live in peace.