President Muhammadu Buhari revealed yesterday that he shunned advice from concerned Nigerians who asked him not to observe this year’s Ramadan on the grounds of ill health.
He said that after skipping the 30-day fasting exercise last year because of his poor health, he felt that he was strong enough to observe it this year, and did so without skipping a day. Addressing residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) who paid him a Sallah homage at the Presidential villa, President Buhari said he had derived more health benefits from observing the fasting and refusing to follow the advice of those who asked him not to fast on health grounds.
He said: “A lot of people told me that on health grounds, I could default. But I refused because I know the value of fasting. “I cannot miss it once I can do it. Last year, I didn’t (fast) because I was on health vacation. “But this year, I have done it, and I thank God because it has helped me to be much healthier and to attend to national issues.”
The President made a fresh case for Nigerians to shun individualism and sectionalism and work towards a united nation. He emphasised the need for all hands to be on the deck to salvage the nation. “Please, in your constituencies, emphasise what I said about 30 years ago: ‘we don’t have another country but Nigeria,’ “ he told the delegation led by FCT Minister, Mohammed Bello.
“We may as well remain here and salvage it together. There is nothing else we can do. “Even those who have gone out are now trying to come back because they are not wanted out there. “I wish all the resources they had, if they had deployed them here, it would have been much better.”
