Ayodele Olalere
The Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Islamic Matters, Dr. Abdullahi Jebe has said that effective coordination of religious groups in the state has helped to foster tolerance and unity among religious organizations.
While addressing journalists in Ikeja, Jebe said President Bola Tinubu laid the foundation for religious unity in the state during his tenure as governor and has been further refined by subsequent administrations.
Having previously served as the Senior Special Adviser on Religious Matters under both President Tinubu as governor and former governor Babatunde Fashola, Jebe said the state government, through his office, has cultivated strong relationships with key stakeholders, through the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council NIREC, by ensuring peaceful coexistence among Muslims and Christians.
“In the past, whenever government wanted to reach out to the religious bodies, it used to deal directly with the head of religious organisations through the five divisions of the state but when Babajide Sanwo-Olu came, he extended the reach beyond the divisions and ensured that everyone enjoyed the dividends from the government and this was made possible because the state already have their records and numbers,” Jebe said.
He further said the recent food palliative distributed by the state government to the religious associations was shared among the 20 local government and 37 local council development areas through the quota within the division of the state.
On the feat recorded in Hajj operations in the past years, the Special Adviser said that numerous interventions of the administration of Babajide Sanwo-Olu to ease the burden of pilgrims to the holy land Makkah has been tremendous.
The governor’s aide however, urged Lagosans to continue to support the programmes and policies of the government while challenging religious bodies to preach good parenting to their followers while emphasis must be laid to quality child upbringing towards development of the state and the nation.
