From Tony Osauzo, Benin
Sultan of Sokoto and President-General, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), His Eminence, Muhammadu Abubakar Sa’ad yesterday called on governments at all levels to treat Muslims fairly, even as he urged Muslims to contribute to the peace of the nation.
He made the call at the opening ceremony of the Council’s General Assembly/ National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Benin.
“Government at all levels should treat Muslims fairly. What is due to Muslims must be given to Muslims. And when we are given what we should have, it is not a favour to us, it is our right. And we hold on to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that guarantees freedom of worship. That is why we don’t disturb anybody who wants to go and worship the way he wants.
“We must contribute to the peace of the nation. As Muslims, we are committed to the peace of this country; we are committed to the peaceful coexistence of this country. But we demand for our rights, always and our rights must be given us,” the Sultan said. He stressed that Muslims were desirous of a very peaceful and stable Nigeria where everyone should stay together as one big family as desired by the Almighty Allah who put Nigeria together, adding, “As Muslims, we want to treat people equally, fairly and justly, equal justice to all of us. We are not asking for preference or special treatment for anybody.”
Noting that Nigeria is a multi-religious state, the Sultan said, “We must allow the various religions to go on, but we must not trample on each other’s rights, which means I must be allowed to practice my religion the way I believe as ordered me by the Holy Qur’an and nothing else.
“So when we get this done, the issue of hijab and so many other things affecting Islam, I believe are our rights, not privileges, unless the Constitution is changed.”
While condemning the bad elements amongst Muslims, the Nigerian Islamic leader said those who commit crime should be treated as criminals or terrorists, but not tagged as Muslims.
“I’ve never heard of Christian terrorists, but we have heard of so many Christians or followers of other religions who committed heinous crimes against humanity. But they didn’t claim to do it for their religions and we did not hold them against their religions. “I’m very glad that about two weeks ago, the Pope made a very strong statement defending Islam as a religion of peace. That was the Pope, the leader of over two billion Catholics in the world. I think that is the message all of us should pick, whether we are Muslims, Christians, Jews or whatever,” the Sultan said.
Meanwhile, an Islamic scholar, Prof. Ibrahim Sulaiman, who spoke on the topic, “Islamic Recipe for Peace in Nigeria”, attributed the Boko Haram insurgency to the drying up of Lake Chad with attendant loss of livelihood of 15 million Nigerians, occasioning migration of people and consequent crises in different parts of Northern Nigeria.
Declaring the meeting open, Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole said the teaching of religion in schools should be re-emphasised, adding, “One way to achieve peace is to create a foundation for a fair and just society.”
He also called for a nation where leaders’ decisions are guided and moderated by the fear of God, saying that if this is done, policies and actions of leaders would impact positively on the people, just as he urged the media to report issues in such a manner not to give mischief makers the opportunity to cause crisis.