The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, Friday, in his palace, said Nigerians should stop deceiving themselves over the country’s problems and urged religious leaders to unite and preach against violence before, during and after the 2019 elections.
He also advised politicians to stop fighting because of defections.
The Sultan made this remark when he received the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria.
He said, “Politics is a choice, like religion. Therefore, let’s not fight each other because of defection,”
“We must tell ourselves the truth and speak the truth. Everything is not okay in Nigeria. Let’s stop hiding under religion, ethnicity or region. I know we have problems in Nigeria. Let’s not deceive ourselves.
“There is no fight between Christianity and Moslems, but maybe disagreement between Muslims and Christians. But we must try and fish out extremists in our midst. Though, you cannot completely fish out bad eggs from the society, we should continue doing our part to ensure a peaceful country”.
“We have our problems and challenges. But we should collectively try and overcome them. As leaders, we must try and work for peace. There is no problem in this world that defies solution unless we are not honest. If not, we will overcome the problems.
“We must also educate our followers that despite the challenges, we belong to one God Almighty but choose to worship God in different ways.
On 2019 general election, Sultan Abubakar implored politicians to stop using children of the poor to spread violence and also gave an insight against killing of innocent people in the name of religion.
His words, “People have wrong notions of Jihad. You cannot kill people pretending you are fighting for God. You are simply deceiving yourself. Jihad does not entail that. God did not create you to fight for Him”.
National President of Catholic Bishops of Nigeria, Archbishop Augustine Akubeze, earlier in an address lauded the Sultan for his roles on interfaith peace and peaceful coexistence in the country.
Cardinal John Onaiyekan, Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Archdiocese, noted that peace is paramount among religious leaders to work towards ensuring a peaceful and harmonious coexistence among the citizens.
The host and the Catholic Bishop of the Sokoto Diocese, Rt Revd. Matthew Hassan Kukah, acknowledged the Sultan’s cordiality to all, irrespective of religion and other leanings.
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