North has everything except sense” — Sultan Abubakar
Sultan of Sokoto and leader of Nigeria’s Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, has accused Northern elites of lacking sense of honesty, implementation, and qualities to ‘organize a society that works for all’.
The Islamic leader while speaking at a Northern Security meeting convened by the Arewa Research and Development Project (ARDP) to inaugurate the Northern security monitoring committee yesterday in Kaduna, said the North is not short of solutions to the challenges facing it, but bad leadership is holding the region captive. He added that leaders who abuse the power given to them, will give account on the Day of Judgment.
He said, “We have lots of documents from several meetings and conferences submitted to the leaders and they have gone into the shelves. We have the solutions to the northern problems.
“Agreed, it is not possible to solve all the problems at once, so, we can do it in phases. But I must say, we do not lack the solutions, what we lack is implementation and honesty. We are not honest with ourselves and if we are not honest, we will continue to suffer the consequences.”
He urged leaders especially the northern governors to implement the reports of the many meetings held in the quest for a solution to the daunting challenges in the region.
On the proposed regional security outfit, the sultan asked the leaders to caution the youth and not allow them take laws into their hands.
“The Northern Youth Coalition just created their own security outfit with just two or three vehicles and the elders allowed the youths to go forward. That is why I said the elite are our problems. The elders are our problems. If the elders do not take the lead, the youths will do whatever they like and think they are right. You have to caution this youths by giving them good leadership,” he added.
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, who was also at the meeting, expressed sadness over the escalating security situation in the North.
He said the activities of Boko Haram, conflicts between herdsmen and farmers, banditry, kidnapping, ethno-religious conflicts, cattle rustling among others, has done great damages to the region, and calls for an urgent and lasting solution.
He added that the real problem facing the country is the failure to provide leadership and organize a society that works for all.
