Buhari: Global economic crisis might be Nigeria’s blessing

By Isiaka Wakili & Abbas Jimoh | Publish Date: Mar 18 2016 5:00AM

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Buhari: Global economic crisis might be Nigeria’s blessing

From left: President Muhammadu Buhari; Executive Secretary World Muslim League Saudi Arabia, Dr. Abdullah Bin Abdul Moshin Al-Turki; and the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa''ad Abubakar, at the International Islamic Conference on Peace and Stability in Abuja yesterday.

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday expressed optimised that the current global economic challenges might well turn out to be a blessing for Nigeria.
This he said was because the crisis would stimulate the latent economic opportunities that Nigerians had left untapped for decades.

Speaking in Abuja yesterday at the opening of the International Islamic Conference on Peace and Nation Building, Buhari said: “Poverty breeds disaffection, which in turn leads to crime and lawlessness including confrontation against the state. To checkmate this, we must work hard to lift our economy, engage our youth and rebuild infrastructure. We can only achieve these with full cooperation of all Nigerians and under a stable polity. We are determined to do this and we shall not be deterred.”
Buhari described the theme and timing of the conference as most apt, “coming at a time when most of the world is grappling with one form of violent conflict or another.”
He said he was particularly impressed by the objectives of the conference including promoting national, regional and global cooperation against the spread of insurgency, correcting distortions about the concept of peace in Islamic ideology and philosophy, contributing to the global fight against terrorism and attracting global attention to the plight of those most affected by the insurgency mostly concentrated in the North-east Nigeria.
He declared that Islam forbids lawlessness and frowns at extremism even in normal acts of worship.
The president said the emergence of any group advocating the contrary is therefore irreligious and unacceptable.
“No religion approves of such heinous crimes against humanity; definitely not Islam nor Christianity, the two to which most Nigerians belong. This is a tragedy which all normal people must rise up against. Islam does not permit lawlessness. It frowns at extremism even in normal acts of worship. The emergence of any group advocating the contrary is therefore irreligious and unacceptable”.