Sultan of Sokoto (image courtesy Leadership newspaper)
The Sultan of Sokoto, the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, and the Ooni of Ife have called for peace and unity among Nigerians amid recent killings in parts of the country.
The religious leaders and traditional ruler spoke at the National Stakeholders’ Summit on the 2019 Election Integrity, which was held on Thursday in Abuja.
In their separate remarks, the opinion leaders emphasised the need for political leaders to ensure that justice prevailed in Nigeria.
The Sultan, Muhammad Abubakar, who is the President-General, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, quoting Othman Dan Fodio, said, “A country can endure with unbelief, but a country cannot endure with injustice.”
“One thing that is clear is that everybody is talking positively about what must happen in Nigeria and that is what we must do, by insisting that things must happen the way the constitution, which is the law of the land and our religion permits them to happen,” he also said.
The Islamic leader also said, “As Christians and Muslims, we know the sacredness of life. We cannot go about killing innocent people and claiming to be doing so in the name of religion.
“All of us must rise up against those people and let them know that this is not our religion. There is too much blood shedding in Nigeria, the blood of innocent people who do not even know what is happening.”
And on his part, Rev. Samson Ayokunle, the CAN President, said, “It is very unfortunate that the best Nigerian is not the leader of the nation. We don’t want a mediocre, we don’t need a mediocre because you can only offer what you have, and you cannot offer what you don’t have.
“And we, in this 21st century, should be able to take our destines in our own hands by saying no to anyone, no matter how highly placed, that wants to manipulate elections thereby mortgaging the future of Nigerians.”
Similarly, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi urged those in positions of authority to take practical steps to address the issue of Nigeria’s population growth.
He cautioned that unless Nigeria took practical steps to provide for its growing youth population the nation would be the worse for it in the nearest future.