By PRISCILLA OSAJE

Northern Youth Elders Forum says the upcoming Quran convention initiated by Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa?ad Abubakar III, with support of Islamic religious leaders will bring blessing to Nigeria.

The President of the forum, Comrade Murtala Garba popularly known as Gamji, said this on Tuesday at a news conference in Abuja.

Garba, the immediate past President, National Youth Council of Nigeria, said the convention scheduled to be held on Feb. 22 in Abuja would provide avenue for Muslim Ummah to come together and harmonise to read Holy Quran.

?We are here to declare to the entire world that we are in support of the Quran convention because Allah has said that anywhere you recite Quran, there is blessing in that place.

?So, we need blessing in Nigeria, Muslim ummah will stand to benefit a lot through this convention. One, it will expose them to know one another, foster unity and co-existence of Muslim ummah.

?It will help to exchange business ideas and encourage strategic discussions on how to tackle insecurity in Nigeria.??

Garba, who described the convention as non-political, added that it would attract 30,000 participants.

He cautioned extremists and anti-Islamic activists against undermining the objectives of the convention as well as discouraging Muslim faithful from attending it.

According to him, the importance of this Quran Convention is beyond human imagination. Spiritually, physically and socially, this convention will unite the entire ummah of Nigeria because no matter how the differences of sects in Nigeria, Quran unites us.

The forum boss, commended the Sultan of Sokoto for initiating the convention, adding that the convention was supported by Sheikh Usman Bauchi, a supreme leader of the Islamic Sufi group known as the Tijaniyyah in Nigeria.

He added that other sect leaders who considered the convention as developmental project were Sheikh Bala Lau, the National Chairman of the Jama?atu Izalatul Bidi?ah wa Ikamatus Sunnah (JUBIS) in Nigeria and Sheikh Qaribullah Nasir Kabara, leader of Qadiriyya sect in Nigeria. (NAN)

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