The Osun State government, on Wednesday, said the need to promote religious harmony in the state informed its resolve to declare today as public holiday in commemoration of Hijrah, the new calendar year for Muslims.
In a press statement signed by the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Sunday Akere, the state government explained that “we decided to make today a public holiday so as to give Muslims opportunity to commemorate the dawn of a new year, taking into consideration Islam calendar as part of the resolve to promote peace and religious harmony.”
According to the statement, “for this reason, Thursday, November 15, 2012, which is the first day of the new Hijrah calendar year, will be a public holiday in the State of Osun since it is the beginning of the new year of the lunar calendar that Muslim faithfuls use for their programmes.”