Anthony Iwuoma
The Sultan of Sokoto, Mohammed Saad Abubakar, has stated categorically that Nigeria’s troubles are multiplying by the day and not getting any better.
The revered monarch spoke in Gombe State at the third National Summit of Peaceful Co-existence and Nation Building.
The summit was organised by Da’wah Coordination Council of Nigeria, with the theme: “Peaceful Co-existence Social Cohesion and National Development”.
The sultan noted that the country was drifting away from the normal and particularly fingered hunger ad insincerity as the major causes of insecurity.
He said: “The problems of Nigeria are mounting up every day, let’s not deceive ourselves that things are getting better, things are not getting better.
“What we lack in this country is the sincerity and honesty to implement the solutions because no religion has asked anybody to kill somebody. Terrorism, banditry, kidnapping are thriving businesses in this country now and people can’t move freely.
“So many people are hungry because they can’t afford food prices which keeps going high…Ensure adequate food supply because of the common man.
“Without food, you can’t have peace, without peace, you can’t have security, without security you can’t have development, and without development you are just a bunch of people sitting down together. Therefore, we must rise up to the occasion, whatever it will cost. A hungry man is an angry man.”
Abubakar had also paid a courtesy visit to the Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Yahaya, at the Government House, where he tasked political leaders on the need to be fair and just in their dealings.
The governor agreed with the Sultan but blamed failed leadership for the poor state of affairs and insisted there would be no solution until the truth is acknowledged.
“I attribute three quarter of the failure of the system to the leadership. The ordinary man too has his own problem; the problem will be there until we tell ourselves the brutal truth and face it head on in order to solve the problem,” he said.
Rev. Father Joseph Shinga, who represented Cardinal John Onaiyekan, posited that lack of cohesion and religious bigotry contribute to the problem.
He said: “Nigeria is going through turbulent times; in terms of social integration and cohesion. the suspicion here and there, religious bigotry and sentiments are on the rise. We need to co-exist in peace.”
