Stop using religion, ethnicity to divide Nigeria, says Sultan
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By Maureen EDOZIE (Enugu)
NIGERIA: THE Sultan of Sokoto, Saad Abubakar III, has candid piece of advice for some fellow citizens.
The Sultan charged those using ethnicity and religion to divide the country to desist forthwith because it was God that brought Nigerians together.
The Moslem spiritual leader said that it was only in Nigeria that a large number of Christians and Moslems have been living together peacefully.
The Sultan stated this at Okpara Square in Enugu on Tuesday at the official reception for Enugu Rangers Club on its victory at the 2016 Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) organised by the Enugu State Government.
He said that it’s erroneous for some people to attribute the armed herdsmen that have been killing people and destroying farmlands as a form of attempt to Islamize the country.
According to him, the people, who engage in such acts, in whatever guise, should be regarded as criminals and be treated as such.
The Islamic leader also pointed out that Islamic religion never supported killing to force people to become Moslems, but only by persuasion.
“We are not to kill anybody because of religion,” Sultan said, adding: “We must not allow bad ones to spoil our unity.”
He stressed: “There are many good Nigerians. There are criminals everywhere. It is not the issue of religion. You don’t Islamize a people by killing them.
“There is no compulsion in religion. Our problem in extremism; Islam does not support violence. As a good Moslem or Christian, we must love one another.”
The Moslem spiritual leader also said that many people have been mistaking President Muhammadu Buhari and imputing what they feel his intentions are, but noted that Buhari is a different person.
He said at the event, which was attended by large number of people from the 17 local government areas of the state and members of the state House of Assembly and the Hausa community, that he had met with the President on several occasions, but he had a different views altogether.
The Sultan said: “What the people are thinking is not what Buhari is thinking. I have spoken with him on several occasions. Justice is the bedrock of every government.”
Speaking at the occasion, the highly elated Governor, Chief Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi said that the Sultan had been a great supporter of Rangers even when he was in Enugu as a military officer.
Ugwuanyi, who was glad that Rangers club was able to lift a trophy after 32 years, gave the victorious team N41 million and also promised to reward each player a parcel of land.
Also speaking, the Enugu radical Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, commended the Sultan for being open and truthful when he was addressing the audience.
According to him, the Sultan’s speech has cleared a lot of doubts about the stand of the Northerners on the menace of the Fulani herdsmen and also doused the tension building up in the South East.
