{"id":1715,"date":"2026-10-18T09:26:35","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T09:26:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/?p=1715"},"modified":"2026-10-18T09:26:35","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T09:26:35","slug":"lalons-legacy-crucial-to-strengthening-nigeria-bangladesh-ties-envoy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/?p=1715","title":{"rendered":"Lalon\u2019s legacy crucial to strengthening Nigeria-Bangladesh ties-Envoy\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Damilola Charles\/Chinasa Nwankwo<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n

Bangladesh High Commissioner to Nigeria, Miah Kabir, says the legacy of \u00a0folk musician and mystic, Fakir Lalon, is crucial for strengthening cultural ties and promoting peaceful coexistence between Nigeria and Bangladesh.<\/p>\n

Kabir stated this at an event in Abuja on Saturday to celebrate Lalon\u2019s legacy and teachings on humanity, brotherhood and equality.<\/p>\n

Lalon, believed to have lived from about 1774 to 1896 in Kushtia, Bangladesh, challenged religious and caste divisions through folk songs performed in the everyday language of village communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe always campaigned that we should not be divided based on caste, religion or practices, but believe in humanity and promote brotherhood and equality,\u201d Kabir said.<\/p>\n

He said Lalon\u2019s philosophy remained relevant at a time when \u201chumanism is being threatened by violent fanaticism.\u201d<\/p>\n

The envoy said Lalon\u2019s experiences, having been born into a Hindu family and raised by a Muslim family, influenced his views on religious tolerance and social inclusion.<\/p>\n

He described Nigeria as a country of \u201cextraordinary diversity\u201d, with hundreds of ethnic groups, languages and religious traditions.<\/p>\n

According to him, managing such diversity requires sustained efforts to promote mutual respect and peaceful coexistence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is where Lalon Shah\u2019s philosophy offers valuable food for thought for all of us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Kabir also said Lalon\u2019s emphasis on self-knowledge offered lessons for young people navigating the internet, urging them not to accept everything they encountered online without questioning it.<\/p>\n

On cultural exchange, he said Bangladesh\u2019s Baul musical tradition offered opportunities for collaboration with Nigeria, where music also serves as a means of preserving history and expressing identity.<\/p>\n

He invited Nigerians to visit Bangladesh to experience its folk culture, while noting that an annual festival and fair, the Lalon Mela, was held at the mystic\u2019s shrine in Kushtia around his death anniversary.<\/p>\n

Also speaking, the Deputy High Commissioner, Mr Faruk Hossain, said Lalon\u2019s experience of exclusion as a child shaped his rejection of religious and caste divisions.<\/p>\n

Hossain said UNESCO in November 2005 proclaimed Bangladesh\u2019s Baul songs and Nigeria\u2019s Ifa divination system among the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth are carried in human memory,\u201d he said, adding that both traditions passed \u201cfrom teacher to students and from voice to voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Prof. Kamal Bello, said Lalon\u2019s ideology explained why he continued to be remembered long after his death.<\/p>\n

Bello said Lalon\u2019s philosophy of humanity rejected distinctions based on race, religion, class and political affiliation.<\/p>\n

\u201cReligion should be for peace,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said Lalon\u2019s opposition to identity politics also offered lessons for Nigeria.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of our campaign is on identity politics,\u201d Bello said.<\/p>\n

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was the first time the High Commission organised a programme dedicated to Lalon Shah.<\/p>\n

The Bangladesh Embassy explained that the programme aimed at deepening cultural ties between Nigeria and Bangladesh and enabling both countries to learn from each other.<\/p>\n

The event was attended by academics, journalists and young people, among others.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bangladesh High Commissioner to Nigeria, Miah Kabir, says the legacy of \u00a0folk musician and mystic, Fakir Lalon, is crucial for strengthening cultural ties and promoting peaceful coexistence between Nigeria and Bangladesh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1716,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14],"tags":[967,966],"class_list":["post-1715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-foreign-affairs","tag-lalons-legacy-crucial-to-strengthening-nigeria-bangladesh-ties-envoy","tag-ties"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Bangladesh-High-commissioner-to-Nigeria-Miah-Kabir-speaking-at-the-event-on-Saturday-in-Abuja.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1715"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1715\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1718,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1715\/revisions\/1718"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primerisenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}