Unity vital during Eid ul-Adha and beyond

The festival of sacrifice took place across the country yesterday and today the whole nation is in a joyful mood as the day has been declared a public holiday for all Ghanaians to join in the religious celebrations.

Eid ul-Adha, which is a period of reflection to celebrate Ibrahim’s will to submit to God through the ultimate sacrifice – his son - is significant in many ways.

But the one key significance is self-sacrifice and how much as a people and nation we are ready and willing to support the poor and vulnerable in society as well as commit to what is good and just.

Thankfully, the celebration has been peaceful and for us at the Daily Graphic, it is our expectation and hope that this peace will continue to permeate the country every year that we mark the celebration.

After all, in any national endeavour, self-sacrifice is essential in ensuring accelerated development and growth.

We also want to give thanks to Allah for the day and hope that the message of sacrifice and selflessness will make all citizens ponder over peace and unity for the virtues to resonate throughout the country.

 We see unity as a keyword because in it lies strength and we as a people cannot do otherwise, since peace and unity across the rank and file of society is the bedrock of development.

We note the many lessons from Eid-ul-Adha and urge citizens to internalise a sense of nationalism and show of love to all mankind to bring joy to the whole country and the world at large.

We must all work hard to ensure that the people really feel the inherent joy during the religious festival by sacrificing for one another as Prophet Ibrahim did.

While we mark the day, the Daily Graphic would also like to use the occasion to commend the organisers of  this year’s Hajj. We understand about 6,000 pilgrims went for the Hajj and so far it has been incident-free and smooth. We think this is something good that the country must be proud of.

It is our hope that our brothers and sisters who went on the religious trip will come back home safely with many blessings not only for themselves but for the entire nation.

Many times, little things have caused sharp divisions among the populace but we believe that at the end of the religious celebration, we should reconcile with one another and continuously commit to working together for societal well-being and growth.

We encourage the youth especially to take their cue from the sacrifice made by the Prophet Ibrahim to signify obedience and gratitude in very difficult circumstances.

The youth, who are the future leaders, must refrain from acts that do not spur growth and take advantage of the numerous government initiatives such as the free SHS education, the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme, and the many agricultural initiatives, including the Planting for Food and Jobs, Rearing for Food and Jobs and the Planting for Export and Rural Development to become productive and self-reliant.

We at the Daily Graphic  would like to join the prayers and supplications of many believers in the Muslim faith and pray that Allah would accept our sacrifices, have mercy and be gracious to the citizenry and the nation.

Once again, we wish our Muslim brothers and sisters a happy Eid.