Some Islamic groups have beckoned on the federal and state governments in Nigeria to declare Muharram 1, the first day of the Islamic Hijrah Calendar 1438 A.H, a public holiday.
They stated that the declaration would show regard for the principle of fairness and justice to Muslims in Nigeria.
The groups: Muslim Muslim Media Practitioners of Nigeria, MMPN, Obafemi Awolowo University Muslim Graduates Association, UNIFEMGA, and Muslim Community of Oyo state, MUSCOYS. Others include National Council of Muslim Youths Organisations, NACOMYO, Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, and the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria, MSSN.
Leaders of the aforementioned groups in different Hijrah 1438 A.H messages appealed to the government to grant their request, Vanguard reports.
The President of MMPN, Abdurrahman Balogun, in his Hijrah message, urged the Federal Government to give recognition to Muslim New Year in the interest of fairness.
Balogun said that declaring Muharram 1, a public holiday would give Muslims a sense of belonging.
UNIFEMGA, in its message signed by Abdulwaheed Odeyimka, its National President, called on the government at various levels to recognise the Hijrah calendar and use it side by side with the Gregorian calendar.
It congratulated Muslims and non-Muslims alike for witnessing another new Islamic year and urged them to reflect on their deeds and activities during the past year.
Also, the Chairman, Muslim Community of Oyo State, Alhaji Ishaq Sanni, in the same vein, said the declaration and recognition of Hijrah was long overdue and called for its immediate implementation.
He called on the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA, to enter into dialogue with the Nigerian government on the issue.
Sanni called for a strict law against rape in the country, stressing that it was becoming too rampant because the culprits seem to get away with it.
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