Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III
The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III and President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Reverend Samson Ayokunle yesterday advocated for an all-inclusive governance to address the multifarious challenges in the country.
The Sultan, who is also President General of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (SCIA), said the country’s leadership should be equitable, fair and just to the people in the distribution of resources irrespective of their political, religious and tribal inclinations.
Both men made the remarks at the opening ceremony of a Collaborative Interfaith Peace and Security Capacity Building Workshop organised by the Nigerian Army Resource Centre (NARC) in collaboration with Inter-Religious Peace Initiative at the NARC Complex, Abuja.
Abubakar noted that extremism and violence were not part of Islam and any one killing a fellow citizen in the name of any religion should be treated as a criminal.
The CAN President, however, urged the Federal Government to address the issue of the marginalisation of the Igbo.
His words: “The Biafra people are going through a lot, not because they want to be violent, but because they want to be heard.
“And one of the things they want to tell Nigerians is that the Biafrans are not a terrorist group. The people want to talk to Nigerians about a general issue that they do not want to be marginalised.”
The Sultan, who was represented by the Executive Secretary of Abuja National Mosque, Ibrahim Jega, also said corruption was responsible for the country’s weak security system and the threats of insurgency coupled with the lack of teaching materials in schools and the sorry state of health care system.
He supported government’s fight against corruption and urged religious leaders to support the Federal Government’s effort to fight corruption in all its ramifications in the country.
While commending the NARC for the workshop as it would foster peace building and engender understanding amongst the people, Abubakar III said Nigeria needed peace and unity to achieve even development and progress in all parts of the country.
