BY VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG

LAGOS —TRADE Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, yesterday, urged Nigerians to use the opportunity offered by the Eid-el-Kabir celebration to reflect on the challenges facing the country and submit to the will of Allah in the belief that only Allah could help the country to overcome the challenges.

TUC in a statement by its President and Secretary General, Bobboi Kaigama and Musa Lawal, respectively, equally charged Muslims to use the occasion to make amends and to see every Nigerian irrespective of their religion as brothers and sisters because that was the only way the country can move forward.

The statement read in part: “The crux of the lessons in Salah celebration lies in the readiness to make sacrifices in the interest of others, willingness to fulfill promises and to implement agreements. This celebration, of course, commemorates the obedience of Prophet Ibrahim to Allah despite the serious implications of sacrificing his son. The action became the source of the holy prophet’s blessings.” This is a big lesson for the leadership of our dear country and politicians, who breach their promises at will.

“A case in point is the closure of our universities for almost four months now over Federal Government’s failure to honour agreements reached with university teachers in 2009.  The development has been described by some people as uncalled for on the part of the Federal Government. The strike no doubt has brought untold pain for both students and their parents. This apparent failure of the leadership to lead by example has also been bane of major juvenile delinquency throughout the country.

“The Congress wishes to use this opportunity to send a wakeup call to all tiers of government, political appointees and Nigerians generally to let their “nay be nay” and “yea be yea”. Everything else will fall into place if leaders lead by example. The Congress therefore reiterates that something drastic needs to be done as regards the army of our unemployed youths.

Posterity will not forgive if we just sit and watch a whole generation waste away. Development from all parts of the country attests to the fact that the youth are angry because they are hungry.

As such they vent their anger on fellow Nigerians through kidnapping, armed robbery and terrorism. The time for the government to reduce hunger in the land is now. Nigerians are tired of bloodshed.”

“The Congress urges all Muslims, politicians and Nigerians, to live in accordance with God’s wishes. Idi-AL Kabir reminds us that as a country we need to be upright and honest. We all should understand that our purpose in life here is to live in obedience to the Creator’s will. Congress insists that we all must take advantage that the celebration has provided to pray for the following: the return of peace in the country; an end to disasters like aeroplane crashes, flood and the collapse of buildings.”