Sultan: Stop associating Islam with negative things

Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III

The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, has advised Nigerians to
stop associating religion with anything negative in the country, saying no
country ever survives religious war.
Speaking during a breakfast dinner organised for religious leaders, security
agencies, resident communities, media practitioners, NGOs and a host of others
at his palace, he also said that Muslims felt more marginalized in the country,
only that they were not complaining.
“When there is a vacant position and a Hausa man is appointed, we call it
‘northernization and when a Muslim leader visits an Islamic country, we say he
is trying to Islamize Nigeria, while there are many people from other religion
and tribes manning other offices and we witness many Christian leaders who
have visited Christian countries but nobody said they were planning to
Christianize the country,” he said.
He said everything was being politicized and anything negative was being given
to Muslims, Fulani (herders) and Hausa, even as there were other people
committing heinous crimes elsewhere but were not linked to religion, ethnicity
or region.
The monarch who said that Nigeria was a beautiful country whose masses
loved one another, blamed the elite for some of the country’s challenges.
Maintaining that the elite were the major problem of the country because of
their selfishness and uncompromising attitudes, he said, “Whenever one loses
power, he creates problem, and the masses are always at the receiving end.”
He wondered why people blamed Fulani men for every attack, saying, “If
criminals are doing bad things, they are criminals and they can be found
anywhere, in any religion and tribes. Therefore don’t add religious or tribal toga
to any act of terrorism.”
In his remarks, a Kaduna-based clergy, Pastor Yohana begged Muslims to
forgive their Christian brothers that offended them and vice versa.