The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs has expressed concern over the country’s high rate of economic hardship, noting that survival has become a daily battle in many households.
This was revealed in a statement released on Sunday in Abuja and signed by Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, the secretary general, and Muhammad Abubakar, the president-general of the council and the Sultan of Sokoto.
According to the NSCIA, the country’s economic woes are hurting the general populace, since some are still getting over issues with terrorism and insecurity.
The statement read, “The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) is deeply concerned about the current economic reality in Nigeria and the devastating impacts of the removal of petrol subsidy on Nigerians.
“The council is aware that the current challenges are overwhelming as those who are just recovering from the aftershocks of terrorism and insecurity are now confronted with economic challenges to the extent that meeting basic needs is now a luxury for the majority of Muslims. For many households, survival is a daily battle as the number of the poor keeps increasing within the ummah.”
Naija News reports that some regions of the country have seen a surge in terrorist assaults, most notably Plateau State, where an attack on Christmas Day claimed the lives of over 100 people in the local government areas of Barkin-Ladi and Bokkos.
The sad incident has called for a better, more efficient security architecture in the country.
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The council, however, disclosed that it had launched the ‘Ummah Care Initiative’, which is “conceived as an emergency palliative intervention to cushion the effects of the current economic hardship on the vulnerable members of the Muslim ummah. This is without prejudice to the efforts of the Federal and State Governments in making palliatives available to Nigerians.”
