Unprecedented crowd of worshippers, Sunday, greeted this year’s Eid el-Fitr prayers in all major mosques in Kano despite the directive of His Eminence the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Saad Abubakar III banning congregational prayers.
The large turn-out of Muslim worshippers came on the heels of a short reprieve granted the faithful to observe the Juma’at and Eid-el-Fitir prayers by Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, who after extensive deliberation with the Ulamas, took the eleventh hour decision to lift the ban imposed on places of worship.
Our correspondent, who observed his prayers at the famous Waje Mosque, reports that the degree of enthusiasm exhibited by the Muslim faithful in coming out en-masse, spoke volumes of their total dissatisfaction with the earlier ban imposed days before the commencement of the Ramadan fast.
However, the overriding opinion among the Muslim faithful had pointed to the fact that Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje was magnanimous in taking the decision to allow the Juma’at and Eid-el-Fitir prayers hold, stressing that since some major markets were allowed to operate, there was no reason for Friday mosques to be closed.
In the view of Malam Abba Sheshe, the issue of the much dreaded coronavirus pandemic was blown out of proportion by both local and international press, making people to believe that the pandemic is a death sentence.
He said, “We are tired of endless propaganda coming out from the international press. It is the same trend obtained locally even though, coronavirus is real as it took disastrous toll on some notable countries within the globe, its gravity in Nigeria in terms of death is just too infinitesimal to promote the scare to high heavens.”
“Look at the daily statistics being churned out by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). The number of those that had died has not even reached 200. I can’t imagine the despicable way people get frightened. The economy of the country is in shambles as businesses and viable government establishment have been closed. We have to arrive at an acceptable decision to buckle-up,” he remarked.
Blueprint findings at other mosque where the annual prayers were conducted further revealed that the governor’s decision to allow the prayers to hold was widely applauded by the unprecedented crowd who converged on them to observe the prayers.
