Sultan in Rome: We must go beyond this symbolic level

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad
Abubakar III, on Sunday, advised Nigerians not
to allow politicians to manipulate them by
peddling hate and bigotry for their vested
interests.
The Sultan gave the advice in a statement
issued by Mr Dickson Omoregie, the Country
Representative of the Institute for Cultural
Diplomacy (ICD).
A copy of the statement made available noted
that Abubakar made the remark at an
international symposium entitled “Promotion of
World Peace Through Inter-Faith Dialogue’’
organised by the ICD in Rome.
The Sultan added that “Nigerians must not
allow themselves to be manipulated by
politicians who wish to use us to peddle hate
and bigotry to attain their vested interests.
“Most of our ethno-religious crises in Nigeria
are perpetrated by our inability to have
sufficient courage to say no and say to them
`count me out.’
“It is essential that we come together to face
the challenges of building a just and equitable
society.’’
Abubakar also flayed external inducement of
interfaith dialogue, especially after a crisis in
the country.
He said “we must build the requisite leadership
that has the courage and the foresight to
initiate and sustain meaningful and productive
inter-faith dialogue.
“Our experience in Nigeria has been that we
engage in inter-faith dialogue only after a crisis.
“This dialogue is usually with the specific goal of
calming tempers and trading blames.
“We must go beyond this symbolic level and
engage in inter-faith dialogue as a strategic
undertaking which shall contribute to peace-
building.’’
He added that such dialogue must involve
building confidence and sincerity among faith
leaders and embrace followers in a deliberate
and systematic manner to ensure efficacy and
sustainability.
The Sultan appealed to Nigerians to be guided
by common values and work together to
actualise values in the wider society.
He also urged the people to respect the sanctity
of life, saying “we should find no excuse for
anyone who sheds blood, regardless of his or
her religious affiliation.’’
He stressed the need to work together to fight
poverty and disease in communities and to
bring inter-faith actions closer to the
grassroots.
He commended Federal Government’s effort in
establishing and sustaining the Nigerian Inter-
faith Action Association (NIFAA).
He noted that “it is a welcome development
and it is our ardent hope and fervent prayer
that we should all work together to expand its
scope and deepen its activities.’’
He called on Nigerians to strive to restrain
extremists through legitimate channels,
stressing that “we must all strive to restrain
extremists among us through all legitimate
channels at our disposal by not allowing them
to dictate the tone and content of our
relationships.’’
The Sultan was nominated by the ICD as
Speaker at the Rome symposium on “Cultural
Diplomacy and Religion’’ at the Vatican.
The ICD was founded in 1999 as an
International Non-Governmental Organisation
with headquarters in Berlin, Germany.