The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has commended Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State for embarking on massive infrastructural drive which positively changed the landscape, saying the Governor’s name has already been written in gold in the history of the State and can never be altered by anybody.
Speaking while presenting a letter of appreciation to the Governor on Monday during a Ramadan Tafsir/Iftar and special prayer organised by the State Government to mark the official commencement of the Muslim fasting month, Director of MURIC, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, described Governor Ambode as a top performer whose achievements are indelible.
Akintola, a renowned Islamic scholar, said aside the massive infrastructural drive, the Governor also prioritized welfare of Muslims and worked hard to enhance peaceful co-existence and harmonious relationship among religious groups in the State.
“Quran Chapter 14 verse 7 says if you show appreciation, we would give you even much more. This is what we have come to do to you (Governor Ambode) today sir. We want to appreciate you; you are a performer and numero uno. We have seen action in Lagos State.
“Jesus healed 10 lepers in the book of Luke Chapter 17 verse 17 and only one came back. Jesus now asked were not 10 cleaned; where are the nine? Muslims of Lagos State appreciate you sir and you will never ask where are those Muslims because we are here. We love you, we appreciate you, we value you. You are a jewel of inestimable value. Is it the infrastructure that you have developed in Lagos State? Is it the gentlemanly attitude that we all have seen in you?
“Other states are burning as we speak but Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, the Executive Governor of Lagos State, took the political landscape with astounding equanimity.
“When there should have been storm, you calm everything down. Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, your name is already written in letters of gold in the annals of Lagos history; it is indelible and nobody can ever erase it again,” Akintola said.
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He particularly commended Governor Ambode for setting up the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) in the State and going further to decentralize the activities of the Council in all the 20 Local Government Areas and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs), just as he commended the Governor for prompt payment of workers salary.
According to him, “Salaries are owed for eight months, nine months, eleven months in several States of the federation in spite of all the financial facilities they got from the Federal Government; Lagos has not owed one month not even one week. Salaries are paid, workers are happy, there is industrial peace in Governor Ambode’s time. We appreciate the Governor and this will go down well in history.
“Of particular note is Muslims and Christians sitting together through the Committee (NIREC) that the Governor set up which has greatly enhanced peaceful co-existence. For this friendliness that the Governor established; and for this generosity that you extended to the Muslim Committee, we say Allah will bless you sir.
“In appreciation of the great works that His Excellency the Governor of Lagos State has been doing, the Muslim Rights Concern came up here with a letter of appreciation thanking the Governor. We never had it so good in Lagos State.”