Wedding
By Sani Idris Abdulrahman
Kaduna,Dec. 14, 2025(NAN) Prominent Nigerian leaders have harped on the need for national unity through peaceful cohesion as a panacea to sustainable growth and development in the country.
The leaders, including the National Security Adviser (NSA) Malam Nuhu Ribadu, Director-General of the Department of State Services Mr Oluwatosin Ajayi, Benue Governor Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, Gombe State Governor and Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum, Inuwa Yahaya, among others.
They made the call in Kaduna on Sunday at the wedding ceremony of Josephine Tirnok,the first daughter of the Northern CAN Chairman, Rev. Joseph Hayab, and her husband Shadrach Ojima-Ojo.
Ribadu, who served as the Father of the Day, was represented by the DSS boss, who was also the Special Guest of Honour, alongside Yahaya, while Alia served as the Chairman of the occasion.
The leaders urged the citizens to embrace mutual respect and collaboration, stressing that national development and peace required collective commitment.
Speaking at the event, Alia, represented by Rev. Fr. Gabriel Ngbea, a Federal Commissioner with the Federal Civil Service Commission, representing Nasarawa, Benue, and Plateau, lauded the couple for their union and reminded them to anchor their marriage on faith, moral values, and the support of loved ones.
Alia said marriage was an institution by God and admonished the couple to build their home on God’s foundation that can never fail.
In his remarks, Inuwa said that marriage was the most important institution in the world and urged the couple to make their home a model of peace, while lamenting that failure in most homes had contributed to many challenges facing the country.
Inuwa, represented by his Deputy, Manasseh Jatau, tasked the couple to distinguish between the excitement of the wedding day and the lifelong responsibility of marriage.
He advised them to prepare for the realities of commitment, forgiveness, and growth, and to rely on their strong Christian backgrounds, family support, and faith in God.
Speaking to newsmen at the sideline of the occasion, Hayab urged Nigerian parents to embrace intercultural marriages as a pathway to healing the country’s divisions.
Describing the union as a symbolic model of the harmony Nigeria needs, Hayab said intercultural and interreligious marriages remain practical tools for breaking barriers and building trust among diverse communities.
He urged parents to allow their children to choose partners based on love and compatibility rather than tribe or religion.
The clergyman explained that the peace Nigerians were seek must begin from the homes, urging that families that embrace diversity contribute directly to national stability.
He encouraged his daughter and her husband to build a home founded on patience and understanding, stressing that strong marriages evolve through growth and sacrifice.
Hayab, who would mark thirty years of marriage in two days, expressed confidence that his daughter would build an even stronger one.
Others present at the occasion included; Gov. Uba Sani, represented by his Chief of Staff Malam Sani Liman, Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, Dr Hadiza Balarabe, Commissioners of the Kaduna State Government, Mrs Abigail Katung, the Mayor of Leeds and wife of Senator Marshall Katung.
Others were; Chairman of the Kaduna State Internal Revenue Board, Mr Jerry Adams, Hafsatu Ashiru, Private Secretary to the Deputy Governor, Mrs Charity Shekari, wife of the late former Deputy Governor Stephen Shekari, local governments Chairmen and religious leaders, among others.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
SA/BEN
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Edited by Bashir Rabe Mani
