Sultan cautions Nigerians

• Advises citizens not to allow outsiders divide us 

• As govs go spiritual, ask traditional rulers to consult gods of the land

From Olanrewaju Lawal, Birnin Kebbi

Sultan of Sokoto and Chairman of Nigeria Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Muhammad Saad Abubakar III, has urged Nigerians not to allow outsiders to divide the country along the religious lines.

He stated this during the first media security summit organised by the Arewa Media Practitioners’ Forum in Birnin Kebbi.

Sultan noted that in Nigeria, many families across the country have Muslims and Christians among their family members and it would be difficult to differentiate them from each other.

According to him, “I want to call on all of us before I conclude this remark, that Muslims and Christians are brothers and sisters and we are to sit down together to discuss our challenges facing us, not allowing somebody somewhere to tell us the problems confronting us.

“We know where our problems are coming from, just like a popular saying that he who wears the shoe knows where it pinches. We know where our problems are coming from, we must understand ourselves.

“We cannot solve these problems unless we sit down together. That is why we are having this summit today to talk to ourselves

“Both Muslims and Christians have been working together even at the level of the traditional rulers’ council. Don’t allow those who will cause problems for us, divide our country. We have in our respective communities across the country, Muslims and Christians, and you cannot differentiate among the families who is a Muslim or who is a Christian.

“So, let us work together to ensure there is peace, because without peace, there cannot be progress and tranquility.”

He commended the organisers of the summit and appealed to other organisations to continue to do such and dialogues with each other across the country for a strong and peaceful nation.

In his remark, Lt General (retd) Abdulrahman Danbazzau, who delivered a lecture at the event, noted that bandits and insurgents do not differentiate Muslims from Christians, but always kill, rape and displace soft targets.

He explained that many Muslims were killed by Boko Haram in Borno State during their prayers in the Mosque. Bandits murdered Muslims in the Mosques in Katsina, Zamfara,Kano and Niger states.

The former Chief of Staff to former President Goodluck Jonathan and Minister of Interior under late President Muhammadu Buhari, insisted that more Muslims were killed in the Northern states of Nigeria than Christians. He stressed that climate change, environmental challenges and ecology caused a lot of conflicts in the region.

He advised that the government at all levels must take decisive action against insecurity in the country, utilizing Federal allocations and their IGR to combat poverty and unemployment among the youth.

While declaring the summit open, Kebbi State Governor, Dr Nasir Idris, who enumerated how his administration had restored security in the southern part of the state, disclosed that bandits don’t have a cell in the state.

He added that his administration had distributed a lot of Hilux and motorcycles to the security agencies and assisted them on other logistics to help them to secure the state.