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Tag: Sultan Abubakar

  • Jonathan receives 2014 Hajj report

    Jonathan receives 2014 Hajj report

    President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday received the 2014 Hajj report from the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    He promised that his administration will look at the report and address the issues raised.

    The President also sought for prayers against terror in the country and for peaceful conduct of the 2015 general election.

    He said: “I thank you for the report you have put together, well packaged and of course the Sultan has made the presentation, it is a summary of the whole document. But we take the Hajj operations very seriously, so all the issues raised here we will look at it. The office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation usually do a thorough analysis of it and come up with specific recommendations of what government should do.”

    “So your eminence be rest assured that all your observations, which I will not want you to repeat will be dealt with, because the government believes that we must encourage religious practice in our country.”

    “I charge you as religious leaders to continue to pray for the country, the excess of criminality in the North, we have issues of terror, in the South we have issues of kidnapping, these are issues being pushed by negative forces, no person who is really religious can willingly go and kill.”

    He went on; “We continue to pray for the peace of the country, especially as we face the general election this year, anytime you open the papers, it is as if the country wants to burn, but Nigeria will surely be safe, Nigeria will surely be united and we will prosecute the election in the end and this country will surely be a peaceful country. We will all collectively work hard to transform our economy, but you should pray for the peaceful conduct of the elections and peaceful transition.”

    “I thank you for your leadership and I thank you for making sure that the number of people you carry to hajj is mammoth and without good management there could have been a lot of crisis. We thank Allah that He has seen us through. If there were minor incidences, I think they were extremely manageable.”

    The Sultan thanked the President for supporting the Hajj operations, saying: ” We have seen tremendous achievements and progress, since we started the hajj operations under national hajj commission of Nigeria. It couldn’t have been possible without your total commitment and support.”

     

  • Sultan to politicians: Stop using children as thugs

    Sultan to politicians: Stop using children as thugs

    Sultan of Sokoto and President General, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, on Monday cautioned politicians against using innocent children as political thugs.

    He said the act is inimical to good upbringing and moral orientation of young children who are future leaders of the country.

    Abubakar spoke while receiving the newly-elected members of the state working committee of the Peoples Democratic Party.

    The monarch said politicians who use children of others, give them money and drugs were doing harms to themselves, the society and the country at large.

    He observed that same children have every tendency and chance of turning against the elected officials, adding,” this will happen after the elections and often make governance too difficult for them.”

    He appealed to politicians to accord top priority to ideals that would promote sustainable peace and unity in the country.

     

  • Sultan warns Muslims on bush meat

    Sultan warns Muslims on bush meat

    The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar lll, on Tuesday warned the Muslim community against the consumption of monkeys and bush meat to avoid contracting the dreaded Ebola virus.

    Abubakar noted that since it was first confirmed medically that the disease was discovered in monkeys and fruit bats, it would be reasonable for Muslims to avoid such, including other bush meat.

    A statement on behalf of the Sultan by the JNI’s Secretary-General, Dr. Khalid Abubakar, in Kaduna on Tuesday said, “As confirmed by medical experts, the disease was first discovered in monkeys and contacted by those who eat monkeys and other sources of bush meat. Alas, in Islam eating of monkeys had already been discouraged (Makruh), according to many scholars of Islamic jurisprudence.

    “Thus, we should continue to uphold this verdict as it also serves as a preventative measure.”

    He also urged Muslims to abide by all health tips for the prevention of the disease seriously, noting that the culture of personal hygiene as well as proper sanitation must always be emphasised

    He said Islam is a religion of cleanliness, adding that as reported in a sound Hadith, “Cleanliness is half of faith.”

    “Nigeria has now joined the league of West African nations with the deadly Ebola outbreak. Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia were reported as taking the lead. The Nigeria Ebola case was first reported with the arrival of a Liberian, Mr. Patrick Sawyer, with the disease in Lagos and subsequently died at a Lagos hospital,” the statement added.

  • Muslims not out to Islamize Nigeria – Sultan

    Muslims not out to Islamize Nigeria – Sultan

    The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, on Thursday declared that Muslims in Nigeria are not out to Islamize the country.

    Sultan Abubakar, who is also the President General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, also called on President Goodluck Jonathan to reconsider dialogue with the Boko Haram insurgents.

    The Royal Father spoke in Abuja while declaring open the Annual National Conference organized by the Muslim Lawyers’ Association of Nigeria (MULAN), in Abuja, with the  theme: “Rule of Law and Social Justice: A Panacea for Unity and National Development.”

    He insisted that the government can only win the ongoing war against insurgency through dialogue.

    He also called on Muslim lawyers in the country to offer free legal services to detained Boko Haram suspects so as to ensure freedom for those who are not connected with the deadly sect.

    He decried a situation where non-Muslims are kicking against the inclusion of Sharia in the Constitution at the ongoing National Conference, even as he urged Muslims not to oppose provisions that would be of direct benefit to non-Muslims in the Constitution.

    The Sultan said: “I have said it one million and one times, as far as America, when I delivered a lecture at Harvard University that the problems of Nigeria is not caused by Muslims.

    “I want to assure you that we have been doing our best to educate people on what Islam and Muslims stand for and want to do in Nigeria.

    “I have said one million times, Muslims in Nigeria are not out to Islamize Nigeria because it is not possible. We all know what is said in the Holy Quran. So why should anybody be afraid of the strength of Muslims in this country?

    “When we come together and we are doing positive things or rightly it is got the development of that community and when a community is developed, Muslims, non-Muslims and whoever within that community will be a beneficiary of that development.

    “When you have good governance, you have good roads, you have good infrastructure, everything is working, it is not only for Muslims, anybody in that area will benefit.

    “So why can’t we use our population, the strength, the number of Muslims in Nigeria to make positive impact and make positive difference in what we do in this country?”

    He insisted that no country can win insurgency war without dialogue.

  • Sultan, CAN condemn bus station blast

    The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, has condemned the early Monday morning explosion at Nyanya park, Abuja, and called for collective efforts toward addressing insecurity in the country.

    Abubakar made the remarks during the Central Council meeting of the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) meeting on Monday in Kaduna.

    The Sultan condemned the act, commiserated with families of the deceased victims and prayed to God to grant eternal rest to the departed.

    He said “we never thought that such things will ever come to Nigeria some years back, but they are with us right now. It is left for us to wake up from our deep slumber and face the challenges.

    “We condemn what happened this morning in Nyanya, Abuja, and we pray that almighty Allah will expose whoever is behind it and all other mayhems in this country fast.

    The Sultan urged Nigerians to discard ethno-religious sentiments and strive toward promoting peaceful coexistence and harmony.

    “All hands must be on deck to find a lasting solution to this problem. It is high time we put sentiments aside, sentiment of religion, sentiment of ethnicity and see how we can take our country out of these killings.’’

    The Sultan, therefore, reiterated the commitment of religious and traditional leaders toward promoting peace, and urged governments at all levels to put more efforts toward addressing the security challenges facing the nation.

    Governor Ramalan Yero, also urged Nigerians to follow the tenets of their religion, which preached peace and sanctity of human lives.

    Yero called for fervent prayers and urged citizens to shun vices.

    The governor urged religious organisations to assist government toward tackling poverty, insecurity, unemployment and high rate of illiteracy among the people by initiating programmes that would address the problems.

    The Christian Association of Nigeria also condemned the bomb blast, describing it as inhuman.

    Pastor Simon Dolly, the National President of the Youth Wing of CAN, made the condemnation in Abuja in a chat with the News Agency of Nigeria.

    He urged the Federal Government to avoid a recurrence of such unfortunate incidence, saying “it is a threat to national unity.’’

    Dolly advised government to take more proactive security measures to protect lives and property.

     

     

     

  • Nobody can Islamise Nigeria – Sultan

    Nobody can Islamise Nigeria – Sultan

    The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, on Sunday said there were no plans to turn Nigeria into an Islamic nation.

    Abubakar, who is also the President-General, Jamatu Nasril Islam (JNI), made this known at the Golden Jubilee lecture of the JNI in Kaduna, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.

    “Nobody can Islamise Nigeria, if Allah wanted he would have made everybody Muslims, so also with Christianity. God would have made everybody Christian if He wanted.

    He stressed the need for the people to set aside ethno-religious differences and be committed toward peace and development of the nation.

    The Sultan said JNI criticism of certain policies of the present government was a wakeup call for government or those in leadership positions “to do what is right.”

    He said that JNI’s action was not aimed at fighting the government or any group or religion.

    Abubakar, however, decried the insecurity that had pervaded many parts of the nation, especially the North-East by the Boko Haram insurgents.

    He said the activities of the insurgents should not be seen as an attempt by Muslims to prosecute Christians or turn Nigeria into an Islamic country.

    Abubakar, therefore, appealed to Christians and other faithful to join hands with Muslims to tackle the present security challenges and other problems facing the country.

    He also urged them to see Islam as a peaceful religion.

    Vice President Namadi Sambo, in his goodwill message, said the present administration would continue to support JNI in its programmes.

    Sambo reiterated commitment of the Federal Government in tackling insecurity and illiteracy in the country.

    He also assured the Islamic body of the government’s effort to address the constant clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farmers in some states of the federation.

     

     

  • Deji of Akure detribalised, peace loving – Sultan

    Deji of Akure detribalised, peace loving – Sultan

    The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, has described the late Deji of Akure, Oba Adebiyi Adesida, as an extremely detribalised Nigerian, whose love for peaceful co-existence was unparalleled.

    The Sultan said this in a message of condolence to the government and people of Ondo State over the death of the monarch.

    In the message signed by the Secretary of the Sokoto Sultanate Council, Alhaji Attahiru Hussaini, the Sultan also described the demise of the late Deji as a great loss not only to his immediate family or Ondo State, but to the entire country.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that he appealed to his family, government and the entire Nigerians to bear the irreparable loss.

    The sultan described the late traditional ruler as a very active member of the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria (NCTRN).

    Abubakar recalled the invaluable contributions of the late Deji during the recent 6th General Assembly of the council held in Sokoto.

     

  • Islam abhors killing of innocent persons – Sultan

    Islam abhors killing of innocent persons – Sultan

    The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, on Tuesday declared that Islam abhors the killing of any innocent souls.

    “The Sokoto Sultanate Council, all traditional rulers and the generality of the Muslims, have dissociated themselves from such dastardly acts.

    “Islam abhors the killing of any innocent souls without following the due legal processes,’’ Abubakar said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Abubakar spoke when the former head of state, Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar (rtd), paid him a courtesy call.

    “We are always committed to the growth and development of Islamic religion, but in line with its teachings and law.

    “Muslims should even persuade non-Muslims to join the religion by their good conduct and strict adherence to the Islamic law.

    “We should, therefore, live peacefully with our Christian brothers and not attempt to kill them,’’ the Sultan said.

    The Sultan commended Abubakar for his dexterity and commitment to peace and unity in Nigeria, and globally.

    Earlier, Abubakar extolled the sterling virtues of the Sultan, describing him as a pillar of peace, unity and peaceful coexistence.

    “The Sultan has been facilitating peace, unity and understanding between Muslims and Christians in Nigeria and beyond,’’ the former head of state said.

    He stressed the need for the use of dialogue to resolve all the problems of Nigeria, adding that this could be done in spite of the diverse religious, cultural and ethnic differences.

    Abubakar, who told the Sultan that he was in Sokoto to inaugurate the state university, commended Governor Aliyu Wamakko for transforming the state.

     

  • Northern Governors extol Sultan’s leadership qualities

    Northern Governors extol Sultan’s leadership qualities

    The Northern States Governors Forum has congratulated the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, who attained 57 years of age at the weekend.

    In a statement issued on Sunday in Minna by his Chief Press Secretary, Danladi Ndayebo, the Chairman of the Forum and Governor of Niger State, Dr. Babangida Aliyu, described the sultan as a bridge builder and a man of peace.

    He said the sultan’s reign had ensured progress and modernisation to the caliphate as well as the length and breadth of the nation.

    “The Sultan ensured that crisis whether sectarian or otherwise, is a rare occurrence in the Caliphate and even beyond, owing to his fatherly role,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the governor Aliyu as saying in the statement.

    It stated that Sultan Sa’ad’s enviable stature as a bridge builder had helped to bring together his people irrespective of their differences, thereby advancing the course of peace, unity and positive development in all parts of the country.

    The forum prayed God to grant the Sultan excellent health, courage and many more years of selfless service to Nigeria and humanity.

     

  • Sokoto offers jobs to 541 graduates

    Sokoto offers jobs to 541 graduates

    No fewer than 541 graduates of Sokoto State origin are sure of employment by the state government this month.

    The beneficiaries would include first degree, master and doctorate degree holders.

    Governor Aliyu Wamakko said this on Thursday while on the traditional Sallah homage to the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, in his palace.

    He commended the Sultan, former president Shehu Shagari, Islamic and Christian clerics and the general public for co-operating with his administration in achieving the preset level of peace in the state.

    He said the prevailing peace would “continue to spur us to do more to further improve the living standard of the people.’’