Inter-group dialogue solution to nation woes –Sultan

The President of Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar 111 has proffered continues inter groups dialogue as solution to Nigeria’s problems.

Sultan Sa’ad who made this known in Abuja at the 2021 4th Quarter Meeting of Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) noted that injustice is the greatest problem facing the nation.

Sultan who is also a Co-Chairman of NIREC described the elite as the cause of the nation’s challenges saying they always want things to go their own way no matter the situation of things.

He warned against rumour mongering noting people should not go about saying what they don’t have full knowledge about.

According to Sultan Sa’ad, “There is a lot of hatred going on all over the country. So, we must face the reality on ground and we must do so at such forum like this. We must continue talking to one another.

“I believe in dialogue because it is the best option at settling problems. The time is now for us to sit down and talk to ourselves and proffer possible solutions to our problems.

“We are in minority here, we are the elite. Elite are the problem of this country Nigeria, because we always want things to go our way. If they don’t go our way we are not happy.

“We can’t go on saying things we don’t have full knowledge of. That is why some issues will not be discussed here. It will be discussed in our close session and we will come to agreement. If we don’t agree now, we will continue to talk until we agree.

“We can agree to disagree later, but we must respect one another. We must respect the feelings of one another. As a Muslim if I feel somehow about anything, respect me for that and see how you can help me. Our religions preach love your neighbor as yourself. But can we say actually and honestly that we love our neighbours? Defiantly no

Lets come together to face issues affecting us as individual and nation to stop this protest. If you have one hundred Muslim appointees in a particular place, it doesn’t mean Islamization. Let’s see how we can face the serious challenges confronting us as a nation.

How can we tackle poverty? The statistics are worrisome. It is unthinkable that we have about 81 million Nigerians mostly youth having no job and we are busy shouting islamization instead of confronting this common enemy called poverty.

‘Insecurity is the most terrifying one. If I am to continue talking about insecurity in the North, we will not leave this place. There is no single day that passes without people being killed in the North. I will not stop going to mosque to prayer because of insecurity. I must go to mosque to pray no matter the situation. Christians should not stop going to church to pray because somebody somewhere threatened you.

“The greatest problem of this nation is injustice and people perceive injustice in so many ways. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. How do we handle such issue? It is through good governance and to ensure there is justice everywhere.

“We need to sit together and talk on the way to entrench good governance.  We should desist from bringing more hatred and tension.  Where there is tension, there is hunger and where there is hunger there is anger” he noted.

Also speaking, Executive Secretary of NIREC, Fr. Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua in his introductory remarks called all Nigerians to fight the dragon of terrorism and insecurity in our midst.

He stressed the need to pray and fight those who have waged war against humanity in Nigeria.