President Muhammadu Buhari says his administration would address the current security challenges and costs of living in the country, saying “I won’t rest until I bring relief to Nigerians.”

Media aide to the president, Garba Shehu, in a statement said Mr Buhari gave the assurance in his Eid-el Kabir message to Nigerian Muslims on Friday in Abuja.

The president said he was “quite aware of the difficulties people are facing and working to resolve them,” and urged Nigerians to put the interest of the country above selfish interests and “use religion as a motivation for the love of our common humanity.”

Mr Buhari said that “if we are putting the teachings of our religions into practice, most of the evils afflicting our society would have been solved.”

He congratulated “the brave men and women in uniform fighting terror on many fronts and their families, as well as others held hostage and kept away from their families by wicked and heartless terrorists.”

He used the occasion to call on all Muslims to reflect on the significance of the sacrifice epitomised by Eid, saying, “We should show love and care to our neighbours and others while celebrating this spiritually important event in our lives.”

The president also advised Muslims “to promote the good virtues of Islam through personal examples and practice. Muslims should avoid association with violent extremist ideas that have wrongly given Islam a negative image or poor perception.”

He expressed the hope that this Eid would be a source of blessing, peace, prosperity and safety for all Nigerians, stressing that coexistence and stability would prevail in the country.

(NAN)