WHAT IS THE SULTAN OF SOKOTO UP TO? Its all over the news that apart from releasing press statements asking President Jonathan to appoint more Muslims to square up the number of Christians in the ongoing National Conference holding in Abuja, the Sultan of Sokoto has also been reported to lead a powerful delegation of Muslim leaders in the north to meet the President face to face to make the same demands and even threatening a walkout of Muslims from the Confab should their demands not be heeded! Given the pestering insecurity in the nation owing largely to the activities of Boko Haram and his tribesmen the Fulani herdsmen, all under the purview of his leadership, we would have expected the exalted Sultan to engage his enormous influence to call these miscreants to order, instead he has chosen to pursue diversionary and provocative nonentities. For avoidance of doubt, we know that one of the stated objectives for which Boko Haram are killing pastors and Christians and bombing and burning churches all over the country is to create and Islamic state with Sharia as the supreme law. This is not different from the stated objective of Jamatul Nasil Islam (JNI), which the Sultan is the President General. Nor is it different from what Usman Danfodio, the founder of the Sultanate, on which the Sultan sits, attempted to achieve. If Boko Haram succeeds to wipe out Christianity and sets up an Islamic state the Sultan would become the Supreme leader in Nigeria. So we know that the Sultan would be the ultimate beneficiary of the Boko Haram struggles. Is this the reason why the Sultan has looked the other way as innocent Nigerians are daily slaughtered? Also we know that in as much as the Usman Danfodio jihad was to spread Islam, it also helped to launch the Fulani dynasty in Nigeria. Only in few cases can you find any northern emir who is not Fulani. So the Sultan is not only the leader of Muslims in Nigeria, he is also the leader of the Fulanis. Ever since the present Sultan ascended the throne the Fulanis have gone wild mainly in the Middle Belt and in virtually all segments of the nation. Almost everyday the Fulanis invade one village or the other, killing, raping and maiming women and children and looting and burning houses with impunity. As the leader of the Fulanis in Nigeria and perhaps even beyond we are not aware what efforts the Sultan has played to call his blood thirsty brothers to order, apart from intermittent press statements credited to him but often tainted with double speak! The Sultan must be reminded that during his reign more blood has been shed by Boko Haram and his Fulani tribesmen than during the Nigerian civil war! If that is not a worrisome issue to him, it is to many of us. To gloss over this and go threatening the president and indeed the nation over the alleged marginalising of Muslims in the composition of a conference set up to allow Nigerians address their problems beats our imagination. With all due respect, we call upon the Sultan to wield his immense influence in a manner that benefits all Nigerians and not be divisive, parochial, myopic and provocative. At this point in time Nigeria needs leaders that will arise and apply healing balm to our many injuries and not the ones that will use religion to inflict more pestering wounds. Amen!
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 20:57:29 +0000
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