“We must continue to see ourselves as one. The leaders must desist from amassing the common resources in their custody to themselves; they should not allow greed to blindfold the vision of Almighty God’s glory in them because there is judgement on the last day. And as the two major religions in the country, the Christians and the Muslims, we must continue to apply dialogue to settling issues by not allowing anger to be the order of the day.”
With these words on Tuesday at the Event Centre in Asaba, the Delta State capital, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Muhammad Abubakar III, urged political leaders to fear the imminent judgement of God.
The Sultan, who said both the rich and the poor would return to God empty handed, warned political leaders to be mindful of the last day when all men shall stand before the throne of God’s judgement.
The first class monarch said the segregation of the poor from God’s given human and natural resources was partly responsible for the anger in some quarters of the country today.
According to the monarch, the mismanagement of formulated multi-sectoral and multi-dimensional policies on spending, where the poor cannot access their rights and privileges, should be reviewed.
Speaking in his capacity as Chairman of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s 60th Birthday Lecture in Asaba, tagged: “Anger Management,” the Sultan said the superfluous life of those in power today has left nothing for the poor to contend with.
According to Abubakar, the privileged ones in the political circle must continue to look for the less privileged ones to assist, to feed and empower, for fruitful stewardship account on the last day.
He said: “I don’t attend birthday ceremonies.
“I decided to be part of this one because of the topic the celebrant chose.
“To find solution to Nigeria’s problem, we must come together and talk to one another.
“The more we talk to one another, the more we get to understand one another.”
Abubakar insisted: “We come together to fight our common enemy because a disease does not recognise religion or tribe, just like poverty.
“We are Nigerians by virtue of God’s creation.
“We must continue to look at ourselves as brothers, love one another as we are created by one God despite our different tribes and religion, look and status, positions and power.”
He lauded the Bishop of Sokoto Catholic Diocese, His Lordship, Matthew Kukah, the guest lecturer at the event, for his critical forthrightness about the continued unity, progress and peace of Nigeria.