Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar

As the spate of insecurity continues across the country, political and religious leaders have been warned not to allow the prayers of oppressed Nigerians to go up to God which may lead to negative consequences against them.

The warning was given by the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Saad Abubakar III, while speaking in Bauchi during the commissioning of the ultra-modern Hajj Camp on Monday saying that the present situation calls for urgent action by the concerned authorities in order to restore the confidence of Nigerians.

The Sultan stressed that leaders should always strive to do what the people want because it was the main reason they were voted into power by the people stressing that what is needed in the country is excellent and purposeful leadership.

The leader of Muslim Ummah in the country said that “leadership has been bestowed on us by Allah, He expects us to be just, fair and equitable to all. We should know that one day, we will all give an account of our stewardship in the hereafter.”

He added that “it is incumbent on us as leaders to discharge our responsibility to the best of our ability, the followers are looking up to us for effective leadership. That is what we have to do in order to make the country better.”

Sa’ad Abubakar III added that there is a need to promote peace and peaceful co-existence in the country because according to him, it is only in an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity that development and progress can be made.

He said that “if you see how we relate during our interfaith meeting, you will understand the essence of peace and peaceful co-existence. Peace is what is needed to make things work out and progress made.”

The Sultan then commended Bauchi State Governor, Sen Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir, for constructing the camp which he said will be used for both Muslims and Christians during the pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia and Israel for religious purposes.

He also warned journalists against publishing fake news that can further fuel an amber of disunity among the people because according to him people always believe in what they hear in the media, especially social media.

Earlier in his address, Bauchi State Governor, Sen Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir, stressed the importance of religious harmony saying that Bauchi is enjoying religious harmony as the relationship between adherents of the two major religions in the country are living as brothers.

Bala Mohammed said that the camp is not meant for Muslims alone saying that Christians too have the right to use the facility stressing that it will be put to effective usage because it will not be allowed to remain unused.

The Governor said that “even the temporary camp we have in the town is used by both Muslims and Christians, this facility too will be used by our Christians brothers anytime they are going to Israel so that their movement will be facilitated and allowed to use all the facilities available in the camp, that is the reason we have the multipurpose hall here for their religious activities.

“We are doing this just as Bishop Hillary has said, the resources we spent here is for the people of Bauchi State from the Federal Government of Nigeria. We know that Sultan is a man who is fostering unity in the country, we, therefore, need this kind of edifice as a symbol of unity,” the Governor said.

He disclosed that the camp was constructed at a moderate cost of N600m with all the facilities it contained and was designed and done by one of the best Engineers in the country assuring that all the observations of the National Hajj Commission will be considered in order to ensure that the camp was put to use throughout the year for activities as the hall can take up to 1000 people at the same time.

The Governor further said that the camp will be put to commercial use in order to make it self sustaining in order to allow government free resources for other purposes of development in the state based on the advice of the NAHCON.

In his remarks, Chairman /CEO of National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Zikrullah Olakunle Hassan commended Bauchi State Government for having one of the best hajj camps in the country which he said has multipurpose usage.

Represented by the National Commissioner in charge of Operations, Abdullahi Magaji Hardawa, the NAHCON Chairman said that with the camp close to the airport, logistics support and other activities during the hajj operation will be made easier.

Olakunle Hassan then advised the state government to put the camp into effective use so that it will not be closed immediately after the hajj operation every year opining that it can be used as a source of revenue for the state.