By Abdulhamid Al-Gazali
Following rumours about the health condition of President Muhammadu Buhari who is away from the country for over ten days and had to indefinitely postpone his return, Borno scholars hold a week-long prayer for his speedy recovery.
The scholars who said the president, in view of what he has done to the war-ravaged North East, deserves such prayer from them observed series of supplications, including recitation of the Holy Quran (50 rounds) in Maiduguri, behind Gidan Dambe.
The convener of the prayer, Mal. Umar Umar Bolori, said the coming of the president to power has helped to restore peace in the state and this has nipped off a 'potentially dangerous situation'.
Umar said that scholars in the state are the most affected set of people by the Boko Haram insurgency, noting that, among other things, 'they are the main target of the insurgents'.
'The insurgents see learned scholars as threats to their ungodly cause, therefore we had to be removed from the space at all cost--a plot to which many of our teachers and respected scholars had fallen victims', Umar said.
'Also, it had affected the teaching activities that take place in different places, mosques, tsangayas, etcetera because it has generally disrupted everything.
'Before the eruption, we receive students from all over West Africa and the root of this goes down to history as far back as 10th or 11th century but the crisis had scared them away.
'Many of our important traditions and practices such as rehearsals which normally hold from 7pm to 10pm to deepen memory had to give way because of the curfews, emergency rules and what have you.
'This has consequently affected studies and even affected our participation in competitions where ordinarily, our students always stood out', Umar explained, adding that 'the coming to power of the president has changed the situation greatly'.
'Our schools are reopened, students have resumed and we feel safe to go about teaching and other normal activities', he added.
It is on this note that the scholars organised a one week prayer session between February 3 to 9 for the president's speedy recovery and the nation at large.
Contrary to rumour mongering about the health conditions of the president and unhelpful lamentations, they further stressed that the situation the nation is going through calls for prayers from all quarters as all hands must be on deck.
They thanked the president for restoring peace in the region, adding that they will continue to pray for him as they are forever indebted to him.
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