Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar
Mohammed Aminu
Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, said the Sultanate
Council in collaboration with Muslim clerics and stakeholders have been
working hard to bring an end to insecurity in the North, adding that
there is no plan to Islamise the country.
He also described the recent move by President Goodluck Jonathan to
reconcile the Hausa/Fulani and Berom in Plateau State as a good step in
the right direction.
The monarch made the assertion Wednesday night, at a dinner organised for journalists at Sultan Palace, Sokoto.
The monarch decried the level of insecurity in the North, adding that
clerics and stakeholders have been working assiduously in the last seven
months to see that normalcy returns in the country.
He noted with dismay insinuations being made by some christian clerics
that Muslims were out to Islamise the country, despite categorical
statements by the Sultanate Council that there was nothing like that.
“We have said it at several seminars and in front of so many clergy
men including the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria
(CAN) that there is nothing like plans to Islamise Nigeria. It is just
unfortunate that despite all we have said, these people don’t believe
us.”
“But it is unfortunate that Christian leaders still talk about Jihad
and say all these things and I am at a loss. There is nothing like a
forceful conversion of non Muslims to Islam because in our Quran, there
is no compulsion in religion,” he said.
He stressed the need for leaders of both religions to work together to defeat this insurgency currently bedeviling the nation.
The Sultan pointed out that in any society and religion there are good and bad people and as such terrorism is universal.
“Terrorist don’t have colour or religion, they are the same all over
the world. So, if anybody is a terrorist you treat him as one. There are
so many Christian terrorists but I don’t hear about Christian
terrorists, it is only when a Muslim does something that you will hear
about Islamic fundamentalism.
“What happened to the person that killed 70 people abroad, you call him
a mentally deranged person. He will now be taken to an asylum for a
mental check and after that, they will say the man is insane,”
“So, as you can see, there is a lot of injustice. Islam is not being
treated as a religion of peace. Of course, in any society, there are
good and bad people. I want to hear a bad man called by his name and not
tie his bad behaviour to his religion,”the monarch averred.
He however, expressed concern that any violence that occur in the North
is now attributed to Boko Haram without efforts being made by the media
to investigate to ascertain those involved.
He also reaffirmed that military action will not bring an end to
insurgency in the North but through dialogue, adding that US Secretary
of State, Hilary Clinton, also made the same assertion during her visit
to the country few days ago.
The monarch appealed to journalists in the country to always be
objective, positive and patriotic while reporting on security issues
that affect the country.
He lauded the current peace moves by Hausa Fulani/Berom leaders in
Plateau State and expressed the readiness of the Sultanate Council to
support the initiative in order to bring lasting peace in the country.
“We have seen the positive comments by Governor Jonah Jang and Solomon
Lar and we are ready to support such peace moves to restore lasting
peace in Plateau state,” the monarch added.
This Day.
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