{"id":33331,"date":"2026-06-16T17:58:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T16:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=33331"},"modified":"2026-06-16T17:58:20","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T16:58:20","slug":"tinubu-urges-patriotism-as-muslims-mark-islamic-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/16\/tinubu-urges-patriotism-as-muslims-mark-islamic-new-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Tinubu Urges Patriotism as Muslims Mark Islamic New Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>ABUJA, Nigeria<\/strong> \u2014 President Bola Tinubu has urged Nigerians to embrace patriotism and good citizenship as Muslims across the country and the world marked the Islamic New Year, 1st Muharram 1448AH.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu reflected on the significance of the Hijra, the migration from Mecca to Medina that begins the Hijri calendar, saying its lessons of sacrifice, renewal, patience, and faith remain relevant for national renewal. \u201cAs Muslims mark the beginning of a new Hijri year, I admonish all Nigerians, particularly the Muslim faithful, to embrace the spirit of the new year by rededicating themselves to the ideals of good citizenship,\u201d Tinubu said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He called for acts of kindness, tolerance, honesty, and devotion to duty, describing them as necessary contributions to national unity, security, and development. The president also prayed that the new Islamic year would bring blessings, peace, and prosperity to every household, asking Allah to guide Nigeria \u201con the path of progress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tinubu\u2019s message comes at a time when his administration faces economic challenges and public debate over reforms, including fuel subsidy removal and currency adjustments. Religious holidays often serve as moments for Nigerian leaders to call for unity, particularly in a country where faith plays a central role in public life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reactions were swift across different sectors. On social media, many Muslims welcomed the president\u2019s message, with one user writing: \u201cFaith and patriotism must go hand in hand if Nigeria is to progress.\u201d Others were more critical, saying, \u201cPatriotism is hard when citizens are struggling with rising costs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From the political class, members of the ruling APC praised Tinubu\u2019s call as timely, arguing that national unity is essential for reforms to succeed. Opposition figures, however, accused the president of using religious occasions to deflect attention from economic hardship. \u201cNigerians need relief, not rhetoric,\u201d one PDP lawmaker said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Within the Islamic community, clerics emphasized the importance of the Hijrah\u2019s lessons. \u201cThe Prophet\u2019s migration was about resilience and building a just society. We must apply those values today,\u201d an imam in Lagos noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Civil society and opinion leaders added that patriotism must be matched with accountability. \u201cCitizens will embrace good citizenship when leaders demonstrate integrity and transparency,\u201d a governance advocate said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Islamic New Year, though less publicly celebrated than Eid festivals, remains significant for Muslims worldwide as a time of reflection and renewal. Tinubu\u2019s appeal underscores his effort to tie spiritual values to Nigeria\u2019s broader quest for stability and progress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ABUJA, Nigeria \u2014 President Bola Tinubu has urged Nigerians to embrace patriotism and good citizenship as Muslims across the country and the world marked the Islamic New Year, 1st Muharram 1448AH. In a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu reflected on the significance of the Hijra, the migration [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":33332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3699,2096,4,3,1138],"tags":[19352,19351,19355,19350,19353,17692,564,17796,19354,561],"class_list":["post-33331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","category-economics","category-featured","category-naija-news","category-politics","tag-good-citizenship","tag-hijrah","tag-islamic-community","tag-islamic-new-year","tag-muslim-faithful","tag-national-unity","tag-nigeria-politics","tag-patriotism","tag-peace-and-prosperity","tag-tinubu"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Screenshot_16-6-2026_15147_thesun.ng_.jpeg?fit=1249%2C582&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33331"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33331\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33334,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33331\/revisions\/33334"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}