The Sultan of
Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic
Affairs, NSCIA, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, has frowned at religious
leaders who use places of worship to preach hate messages.
Speaking during a
joint meeting with members of the Northern States Traditional Council in
Kaduna, on Monday, the monarch attributed the crisis in the north to the hate
messages preached by religious leaders.
According to
Abubakar, “We are more worried with the use of places of religious worship to
preach hatred, violence and other issues that tend to divide us rather than
strengthening our unity as a people created by one God.”
Also speaking at
the meeting, the Governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima said for the region
to attain its greatness, solution must be found to the social, economic and
political challenges ravaging the North.
Shettimma, who
doubles as the Northern Governors Forum, said the challenges facing the North
revolve around intolerance, illiteracy and lack of unity.
He said, “Our
core challenges in the North today revolve around intolerance, absence of
peaceful coexistence, poverty, illiteracy and lack of unity,” he said, and
expressed confidence that the meeting “is more than able to provide solutions
to our problems.
“As Governors, we
are more determined than ever, to sincerely walk the talks generated from this
important meeting.
“Nigeria’s
wealthiest region by GDP and the region with the brightest prospects for
accelerated economic growth; in short, arguably Nigeria’s most thriving region,
has literally conspired against itself to be reduced to the laughing stock of
the world.
“Northern Nigeria
today is blighted by a deadly, albeit `retreating, insurgency, rural armed
banditry, cattle rustling, ethnic and religious conflicts, the underlying
causes of which are poverty, illiteracy, social exclusivity and severely
limited economic opportunities.”
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