After observing the Eid-el-Kabir prayers at Dodan Barracks prayer ground in Lagos, the President urged Nigerians to set aside ethnic and religious differences and work together.

Acknowledging that Allah does not burden the country beyond its capacity, President Tinubu expressed gratitude for good health and prayed for robust health and prosperity.

He emphasized the necessity of making sacrifices for the nation’s development, assuring that Allah would support them.

The President encouraged citizens to have faith in themselves and the country, emphasizing the need for harmonious coexistence and collective efforts in nation-building.

He also extended prayers to the Nigerian troops fighting insurgency, hoping for their victorious return.

In a statement released by his media aide, President Tinubu’s message resonated with his desire for national progress and unity.

Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat, representing Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, joined in felicitating Muslims across Nigeria and in Lagos State for the joyous celebration of Eid-el-Kabir.

He urged them to support President Tinubu’s vision for a better country and emphasized the importance of praying for the President’s success.

The Eid prayer, led by Chief Imam Sheikh Sulaiman Oluwatoyin Abu-Nolah, commenced at 9 a.m. At the prayer ground, the Chief Imam performed the ceremonial slaughtering of a ram, symbolizing Prophet Ibrahim’s obedience to Allah’s command.

Notable attendees at the event included the Chief of Staff to the President, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, National Security Adviser Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, former Governor of Lagos State and ex-Minister of Works and Housing Mr. Babatunde Fashola, and Speaker of the State House of Assembly Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, along with other prominent government officials and politicians.

The advisory follows the latest warning on the increasing number of infections to COVID-19 both in Nigeria and globally.

NCDC, Director General, Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, gave the advisory in a statement on Friday.

According to the statement, the public health advisory was issued following the need for religious organisations, community leaders and Nigerians to guard against infections.

“This is based on the prevailing risk from the virus and the need for religious organisations, community leaders, and Nigerians, in general, to take necessary precautions ahead of the upcoming Eid-el-Kabir celebrations,” the statement added.

According to the latest situation report from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the number of weekly COVID-19 cases has increased globally for the third consecutive week.

The statement further reads, “Similarly, our national surveillance system has detected a gradual increase in the daily COVID-19 cases recorded in the country.

“Although confirmed cases increased from 267 to 445 between weeks 21 to 24, hospitalisation and fatalities have remained low suggesting these are mostly mild to moderate cases or we are in the lag phase before we see the accompanying increase in sever.

“Since Nigeria’s first case was detected on 27th February 2020, we have had 256,695 confirmed cases with 3,144 deaths across 36 states and the FCT.”

Genomic surveillance confirms Omicron and its various offspring (sub lineages) remain the dominant circulating variant of concern associated with the spread of the disease in the country.

However, NCDC said the recent increase in cases may be in part or whole due to increased testing over the last few weeks and increased circulation of Omicron sub-lineages (BA.4 and BA.5 as seen elsewhere).

The turbaning ceremony which held on Tuesday in Daura hometown of Buhari was announced by the President’s SSA, Media & Publicity, Garba Shehu in a Facebook post.

Yusuf Buhari was turbaned alongside his nephew, Musa Daura, who is now the Dan Madamin Daura.

The Talban Daura is a top traditional position in Daura Emirate of Katsina State.

This was according to a statement on Monday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.

Speaking on the significance of the Eid El-Kabir celebration, the President appealed to Muslims “to demonstrate the good virtues of Islam through personal examples and practices.”

He added that “Taking advantage of the celebration to exploit fellow citizens through outrageous prices of food and rams is inconsistent with fine virtues of Islam.

“As practising believers, we shouldn’t seek obscene profits by making life difficult and miserable for others. We should not seek happiness at the expense of others. Remember that Islam is a religion of charity that urges us to love our neighbour as we love ourselves.

“I urge all Muslims to continue to live in peace and harmony with their fellow Nigerians of other faiths in the spirit of peaceful coexistence. Let us pray for the progress of Nigeria at all times. Let us expose undesirable elements among us who are creating security problems for the country.”

President Buhari restated the determination of his administration to create a just, harmonious and prosperous country in which the safety of life and property is assured.

Reflecting on current challenges facing the country, the President states that “COVID-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on the economies of all countries, including Nigeria, in addition to the fact that floods have caused large scale destruction to agricultural farmlands, thereby impacting negatively on our efforts to boost local production in line with our policy to drastically reduce food importation.”

This, he explained, has led to food inflation which the government is working hard to address.

According to President Buhari, “no government in our recent history has invested as heavily as we are doing to promote local production of about 20 other commodities, through the provision of loans and several other forms of support to our farmers.”

He said, “apart from the destruction caused to rice farms by floods, middlemen have also taken advantage of the local rice production to exploit fellow Nigerians, thereby undermining our goal of supporting local food production at affordable prices.

“As an elected president who enjoys the goodwill of the ordinary people that gave us their mandate, let me assure you that we are continuing with measures to bring relief to Nigerians, including making fertilizer available at affordable prices to our farmers,” he tells Nigerians.

The President also noted that the current insecurity in the country “has produced severe and adverse effects on agriculture because farmers are prevented from accessing their farms by bandits and terrorists.”

He, however, reassured Nigerians that his administration is taking measures to address security challenges and the country have started taking delivery of fighter aircraft and other necessary military equipment and hardware to improve the capacity of our security forces to confront terrorism and banditry.

Sanwo-Olu, while congratulating them stated that they should maintain all protocols against the spread of the virus.

This was according to a statement on Monday by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Gboyega Akosile.

Sanwo-Olu “advised Lagosians, especially Muslim faithful to imbibe the lessons of sacrifice made by Prophet Ibrahim and work for the peace, stability, unity and progress of the country.”

Akosile quoted the Governor as saying, “On behalf of my family and government of Lagos State, I join millions of people around the world, to wish our Muslim brothers and sisters in the state and in Nigeria happy Eid-el-Kabir, which comes with significant lessons for mankind.

“Eid al-Adha has become a symbolic event in the history of mankind, following the events that led to the sacrifice by Prophet Ibrahim, who held tenaciously to his faith in God despite his unpleasant circumstances at the time.

“The festival, therefore, reminds us that there will always be great rewards when we have abiding faith and patience in trying periods; persistence in prayers and tenacity in our belief, as well as sacrifice for the progress of mankind and development of our society.”

The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha stated this in an interview with State House correspondents after he led members of the task force to present its interim report to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday.

He also identified fatigue on the part of workers as part of the factors responsible for the low figures.

Mustapha also noted that the President was happy with the report presented and that he commended members of the task force for their efforts in creating awareness on the virus.

With the extension, the phase which was initially scheduled to end on July 29, will now end Thursday, August 6.

Briefing newsmen on Wednesday, the SGF said the PTF would release fresh directives tomorrow once the President endorses its recommendations.

“As for the content of the report, it will be premature for me to talk about it because we submitted a report, we have submitted recommendations and so we have to leave for Mr President to take a decision.

“By the time I receive his approvals, non-approvals on the recommendations we have made, we will be able to speak to the Nigerian people tomorrow (Thursday),” he explained.

The SGF added, “If you noticed, as we celebrated those discharges, there has also been a decrease in the testing.

“In the last couple of days, we tested just barely 2,000 across the nation, but we have a testing capacity of much more thousands than 2,000.

“Another reason is that everybody is still in Sallah mood, even the essential workers. Remember when I talked of fatigue, this is part of it.

“But I know that in the next couple of days, the testing will be rampant because people would have come out of the Sallah celebrations and come back to work.

“The sub nationals and local governments will begin to go into the communities to search because this is the point at which you have to go into the local communities and begin to search.

“If you don’t do that, so much is happening as a result of the community transmission that has been cascaded into the local communities that if you wait for it to present itself, it will present itself in a very explosive manner and we can get into a panic mode.

“We don’t want to have that. That is why are encouraging the state governments to go into the local communities to ensure that they search for those infected with this virus, test them, if they are positive, isolate them and provide care for them.”

Sanwo-Olu, in his Eid el-Kabir message on Thursday through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Gboyega Akosile, congratulated Muslims in the state, with the call and to continue on the path of spirituality and peaceful co-existence.

The governor also urged Nigerians, especially Muslims to imbibe the lessons of the sacrifice made by Prophet Ibrahim and work for the unity and progress of the nation.

Sanwo-Olu, who adopted the phrase “calm down” from a viral video of a young boy being flogged by his mother for misdeeds, reiterated the need for extreme caution in order not to jeopardise the gains of past months.

“Today, I join millions of people around the world, to wish our Muslim brothers and sisters in Lagos State and in Nigeria happy Eid-el-Kabir, which comes with significant lessons for mankind. For Muslims, today’s celebration is very unique.

“This symbolic Islamic festival is a reminder to us that, there will always be great rewards when we have abiding faith and patience in trying periods; persistence in prayers and tenacity in our belief.

“It also reminds us of the sacrifice we are expected to make not only for spiritual fulfillment but also for the progress of mankind and the development of our society.”

The governor also reminded Nigerians, especially residents of the need to reflect on the new reality caused by the global coronavirus pandemic, saying it has altered the way we live, work, and celebrate.

He said: “Traditionally, Eid-el-Kabir is marked with fanfare, where thousands of worshippers head to various designated praying grounds in their localities for special Eid prayer, followed by festive gatherings, visits to families and friends, gift exchanges, feasts among friends, neighbours, and relations.

“However, these activities, which are a reflection of joy and happiness of the season, cannot hold this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Let us reflect on the last four to five months of our lives as individuals, as a state, and as a nation. We should also remember our health care workers, and thousands of COVID-19 patients who would have loved to be at home to celebrate with us at this moment.”

Sanwo-Olu also advised Nigerians to support the government’s efforts in building a nation that would work for all, adding that the need to keep Nigeria on the path of development is a collective responsibility of all citizens.

WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.

“As we approach the Eid Al Adha feast, there is also increased risk of transmission as a result of social and religious mass gatherings.

“Any decision to restrict, modify, postpone, cancel, or proceed with holding a mass gathering should be based on a standardised risk assessment, and should be part of a comprehensive approach taken by authorities to respond to the pandemic,” Al-Mandhari said.

WHO remarked that under-reporting of cases is a challenge as testing for COVID-19 in Africa remains low by global benchmarks but capacity has expanded significantly.

It added that about 7.7 million tests had been performed in Africa since February.

“The number of tests performed per 10 000 population as of mid-July was below 100 in 43 countries out of the 54 assessed. This must improve,” the organisation said.

It noted that although infections are on the rise across the continent, the trend is varied. Nine countries in sub-Saharan Africa have reported a decline in cases over the past three weeks, according to the health body.

Gabon and Mauritania have made significant progress with the time it takes for case numbers to double increasing.

In Djibouti and Tunisia, very few cases have been reported in recent weeks, and most were imported. In Egypt, one of the hardest hit by COVID-19, a decline in cases has been observed over the last five weeks.

WHO said it was supporting countries to respond to COVID-19 by providing technical guidance, crucial medical equipment and has remotely trained more than 72, 000 health workers and partnered with regional and national professional associations to build on existing capacity.

WHO added that, “Through an online supply portal, WHO, other United Nations agencies and partners have also organized shipments of more than 650 requests of key equipment, including more than 2,400 oxygen concentrators to 47 countries in the region.”

The President also reiterated his call on citizens to continue to exercise patience and understanding over the inconveniences, especially the regulations on places of worship.

In his Sallah message to Muslims on Thursday, ahead of the Eid-el-Kabir celebration, the President said the outbreak of the coronavirus has made it difficult for people to gather in places of worship as they are used to, urging worshipers to abide by the guidelines for safety of their lives, and loved ones.

“The coronavirus has had devastating adverse impacts on our social, economic and spiritual lives.

“The preventive guidelines we have introduced to contain the spread of this deadly disease have unfortunately limited people’s freedom to gather and worship in large numbers in Mosques and Churches.

“Every measure that has been introduced to contain this disease may have its unintended consequences on the daily lives of our people, and I, therefore, call on Muslims and other faithful to continue to show more understanding with the government as we take correct steps to protect our people through the social distancing,” the President said.

He added: “No elected government would intentionally take away its people’s religious freedom by limiting the number of people that will gather in worship centres at the same time.

“The guidelines are dictated by necessity in order to safeguard public health and should, therefore, not be perceived as infringement on people’s right to worship.”

Commended the sacrifices of Muslims and Christians in abiding by the COVID-19 guidelines for the good of society, the president gave the assurance that his administration would continue to provide economic reliefs to the people.

“On our own part, we shall continue to provide economic reliefs to the people to minimize the unintended hardships these guidelines have inflicted.”

The President also reminded worshippers that COVID-19 is a worldwide affliction which has forced places of worship around the world to be shut down.

While wishing Muslims a happy celebration, the President called on worshipers not to forget the symbolic significance of the sacrifices of the Eidel Kabir.

“Muslims should imbibe the noble virtues of our great prophets in order to establish closer connectivity between religious teachings and practice,” he said.

“We can create the greatest impact by putting into practice the noble teachings of our religion. In whatever we do in life, we must put the fear of God in our daily activities to make our society better.’’

Speaking further, the President reminded Nigerians of his efforts to root out corruption in the country, stating that the efforts had so far brought a lot of changes in the country’s polity.

He appealed for more support and understanding as investigations are carried out on both legacy and fresh cases.