Residents of Katsina State have resorted to special prayers seeking divine intervention from God over imminent drought due to lack of steady rainfall in the state.
The residents, mostly farmers, traditional and religious leaders, on Tuesday morning converged on the ancient city’s Eid Prayer Ground Mosque for the rain-seeking prayers.
The action follows the absence of rainfall in most parts of the state especially in the last two weeks, as a result of which bumper harvest is being threatened.
The two Rak’at prayers held at about 8:00 am, were led by the Chief Imam of the Katsina Central Mosque, Imam Gambo Mustapha.
He prayed for sufficient rain for farmers to obtain bumper harvest, and asked God to end the hardship that Nigerians face everywhere they live across the country.
The Emir of Katsina, Dr. Abdulmumini Kabir Usman, who led thousands of the residents to seek God’s intervention, urged residents to shun immoralities and go back to God in true repentance.
He said: “Whenever there is a possible threat of drought, we are enjoined by Allah (SWT) through His Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) that we should go back to Him, and seek His guidance and forgiveness and this is what we have done today (Tuesday).
“We seek for Allah’s mercy and guidance and we hope this prayer will be answered by Allah (SWT) and will grant us not only rain but bless our crops and other things that we need to survive.”
Another participant, Malam Abdurrahman Bature, said crops are in serious need of water to survive, amidst the high cost of food items in the market and security challenges facing the state.
He admonished residents of the state to fear God in their daily activities, and for leaders to treat their subjects with sincerity and provide the needed humanitarian assistance to them.
According to him, “Even these unnecessary killings of innocent citizens can be responsible for rainfall shortage including our bad characters”.
Francis Sardauna
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