From Salisu Zakari Maradun
Thousand of Muslim faithful in Zamfara converged at the central eid praying ground for a special prayer against drought following lack of rainfall for a long period of time in the state.
The stoppage of the rain which has entered into its fourth week has caused a lot of loss to the farmers who have already cleared their farmlands for the year’s farming activities.
Scared by the drought, the people under the aegis of the emirate of Gusau, the capital of the state, found it necessary to organize the special prayer to seek for divine intervention.
A large number of people across the state, irrespective of religious differences obliged to attend the prayer which was announced by the emirate of Gusau.
The prayer which was supposed to have the attendance of everyone, including the governor and all members of his cabinet was successfully conducted even though up to the time of filling in this story, the rain is yet to drop.
Many people, including the emir were not happy over the absence of the governor and his deputy despite the fact that they were in the picture of what was arranged to be done by the emirate.
Other absentees during the prayer were the SSG, the speaker of the house of assembly, as well as some top government functionaries among others.
After the prayer was said, many people who spoke to our correspondent expressed their sadness over the refusal of the governor in particular to attend the prayer.
It is disheartening that the governor, who was even around just some hours before the full commencement of the prayer but could not attend”, says Malam Idris Kabiru, one of the prominent personalities that attend the session.
Also speaking with regard to the prayer, Sheikh Salihu Usman explained that actually they were disappointed in the governor, adding that, “this is poor leadership, because any leader at whichever level, his first and most primary assignment is to among other things express his concern to the people he leads, to ensure their safety, their well being and all that is required of him, but this one he is only interested in his personnel needs.
“ I am not surprising in respect of what this governor exhibited, because he does not have both the state and its people at heart, otherwise he would not have done, or behaved the way he behaved as far as this problem is concerned. This problem affects all, irrespective of religious, political and tribal inclination, because is something to do with life, we all gathered here to pray to God for his intervention to give us abundant rain, because if you go out now to our farmlands, you will weep, everything is drying due to lack of rain.”
At the time of filling this report, almost all parts of Zamfara is dried up as a result of ceasing of rain for about 28 days.
