His Eminence the Sultan of Sokoto and Chairmen of Councils of Traditional Rulers across the 19 States of northern Nigeria, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, has expressed concern over the usage of places of religious worship to preach hatred.

He spoke on Monday at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, Kaduna, during the opening of an extraordinary meeting of the Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) with traditional rulers across the 19 states of the North. The Sultan condemned the preaching of hatred, violence and other issues that tend to divide the citizens, rather than strengthen unity as a people created by one God.

He noted that one of the numerous reasons why violence continues to thrive is “due to impunity that is allowed to thrive in our midst. Nobody is punished for criminal doings they commit.”

Sultan Abubakar said in view of the threats and the dimension the crises were taking, the traditional rulers from the region would back any action taken by the Northern States Governors Forum.

“Let us collectively as one people say enough is enough,” the Sultan added.

In his speech, Chairman of NSGF and Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, said: “Perhaps, this is the first time the Forum is formally conveying this kind of meeting with traditional rulers to deliberate on matters of common concern to all of them as leaders with the mandates of their respective citizens.

“Our backwardness in education, pervasive poverty and persistent insecurity are amongst the basis of this extraordinary meeting.”

Shettima said that managing multiculturalism and difference is a major challenge and indeed a litmus test for leadership, good governance and progress not just in Northern Nigeria but in the entire global society.

He noted that the South-West and South-East have remained comparatively more prosperous. He said: “Some may argue that theirs are societies with common tribes while ours in northern Nigeria, is the multi-ethnic reality of the African mix, as some researchers call it. This African-mix is ordinarily a comparative advantage and we can make it so.

“Poverty, poverty and I say again, poverty, is to many of us the number one monster dragging backward, our Northern Nigeria.

“For instance, in June, 2013, we recorded a good number of extremely poor persons who were recruited for as little as N5,000 to either spy on soldiers and report their vulnerability to insurgents, attack and set schools ablaze by late night or in some cases, poor old women were paid similar amounts by insurgents, to either keep arms in their huts or smuggle arms from one point to another.

“One case I always remember is that of one Musa Grema, a 13-year-old boy who revealed that he accepted N5,000 to set three of our primary schools ablaze and also spy on soldiers, because his parents relied on him for their feeding.”

Earlier in his remarks, Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State said that the traditional rulers were the closest to the grassroots and hold the ace to resolving some of the crises raging in the region. He called on them to impress it upon their subjects that ensuring security is a business of all in their domains.

Spotted at the opening session of the meeting were 15 out of the 19 Northern Governors or their deputies. Among the governors in attendance were those of Taraba, Darius Dickson Ishaku; Sokoto, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal; Plateau, Simon Lalong; Katsina, Aminu Bello Masari; Borno, Kashim Shettima; and Kebbi, Atiku Bagudu. Others were the governors of Kano, Abdullahi Ganduje; Niger, Sani Bello; Jigawa, Ababakar Badaru; and Adamawa, Jibrilla Bindow.

Benue, Kogi, Zamfara and Nasarawa state governors were represented by their deputies.

Emirs of Kano, Zazzaua, Etsu Nupe, Emir of Zuru, Gwandu, Yauri, Bida, Wukari, Shehun Borno were among those who attended the meeting.

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