By Amuda Dan Sulaiman Fab
Kogi State Muslim Organization, (KOSMO) has on Saturday unveiled the 1446 Islamic calendar with a call on the Federal and State Governments in Nigeria to declare Muharram 1, the first day of the Islamic Calendar year, as a public holiday.
The Islamic new year calendar was unveiled by Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo at Majesty International College Lokongoma in Lokoja.
In his welcome address, Chairman of KOSMO, Nuril Deen Yusuf Abdallah, said the Islamic calendar is important to all Muslims because it shows Muslims have strong roots and history.
Abdallah noted that the annual unveiling of the Islamic calendar by KOSMO is a reawakening call to all Muslims to come back to their roots as majority of the Muslims have lost touch with such very vital background.
He called on the Muslim community to continue to support the KOSMO in order to continue to carry out its activities.
Abdallah thanked governor Ahmed Usman Ododo, and Muslims in the state for their support towards the upliftment of the activities of the KOSMO.
The KOSMO Chairman called on the Federal and state governments in Nigeria to declare Muharram 1, the first day of the Islamic Calendar year, as a public holiday.
He said such a declaration would be in line with the rule of law, fairness and justice to millions of Muslims in Nigeria as it was granted to the Christian brethren on every January 1 of the Gregorian Calendar.
This gesture, he stressed, would give Muslims a sense of belonging in the polity.
In his opening remarks, Chairman of the event, the Chigari of Lokoja, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Muhammed Sanusi Ahmed, commended the organizers for the annual Hijrah Commemoration lecture.
The Chairman who took time to dissect the history of Islamic calendar and the meaning of every month, noted that unfortunately a number of Muslims have lost touch with the calendar.
He urged the Muslim Ummah to reinvest and cultivate interest in the Islamic way of life in order to maintain and preserve their roots adding that any community that lost touch with its history and roots has lost its relevance.
The Chigari of Lokoja thanked the KOSMO for its effort to preserve the Islamic calendar noting that in the past a lot of efforts have been made by the enemies of the religion to kill the Islamic calendar but the resilience of Muslims has kept it alive.
Delivering a lecture with the Theme: Virtual Digital Currency: the Islamic Perspectives, an Abuja based Islamic cleric, Prof. Abdulhameed Danjuma Mambo, said that in the recent years, virtual digital currencies, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum have gained significant population.
According to him, these currencies operate on decentralized networks and are secured using cryptographic principles.
Also speaking, governor Ahamed Usman Ododo of Kogi State thanked the KOSMO for organizing such important event every year adding that it has over the years kept alive the important culture in the hearts of Muslims.
The governor who was represented by the one of his aides, Barrister Zakari Abass, noted that since every Islamic activity is tied to time, Muslims should strive to incorporate the Islamic calendar in their day to day activities.
He thanked the Islamic cleric for the insightful lecture urging him to also reproduce it in writing so that the message could be passed to the Muslim Ummah across the state.
Dignitaries at the event include; representative of the Maigari of Lokoja, the Grand Khadi of Kogi State, Justice Abdulkarim Aruwa, commissioner for water resources, Engr. Yahaya Danladi Faruq and the commissioner for Justice, Hon. Barr. Muiz Yunusa Abdullahi SAN, Islamic associations, traditional rulers and Islamic scholars.
Highlights of the event was, recitation of Holy Quran, guest lecture delivered by Professor Abdulhameed Danjuma Mambo, Presentation of awards to prominent Kogites and unveiling of 1446 Islamic Calendar.
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