The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, has told traditional rulers to speak out about the problems of the country.
Also, he accused the elite of “using the common man who doesn’t have anything” to get what they want.
Speaking at the National Summit on Security and Insecurity in Nigeria organised by Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding in Osogbo on Wednesday, the monarch lamented the collapsing infrastructure in the country.
The event was attended by scholars and security experts as well as traditional rulers from Osun, Oyo, Ekiti and Ondo states.
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Abubakar reminded the royal fathers that they for centuries managed the affairs of their territories before government relegated them to the background after the 1914 amalgamation.
He told them to rise to the occasion and save the country.
The Sultan said, “You cannot have peace and security when you do not have good governance and justice. Without justice, you can’t have good governance. That is what our forefathers said. We need to rise to the occasion, things are really bad.
“If you keep quiet and don’t get to see how we can help our political leaders on this issue, then we are part and parcel of the problem when you keep quiet in the face of injustice.
“And Almighty Allah would ask you on that day when you have nobody: how you used your positions to help the common man. And if you have no answer, God has a way of rewarding you and I don’t pray for that for anyone.”
He added, “We should speak out the truth all the time without being afraid of a governor or local government chairman or chairman of traditional council threatening us. If you are convinced, speak out and stand by it.
“I have always said it that the problem of this country is us, the elite. If we want to deal with these problems we can do it. We have always used the common man who doesn’t have anything to get what we want and lord it over them. I urge the elite to visit graveyards to see their rich predecessors and understand that no one would depart this world with anything.”
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, said the Operation Amotekun security initiative had come to stay because royal fathers were involved in its planning.
He urged the government to involve monarchs more in security strategies in their domains for effective policing.
The chairman of the Centre, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, said Amotekun appeared to have made the Federal Government redouble its efforts to protect life and property.
He said the focus of the conference was informed by “the time-tested truth that at all times when things threaten to fall apart for our nation, the lot always fall on our fathers to do the pull back from the brink.”
Declaring the summit open, Osun State Governor Adegboyega Oyetola urged stakeholders and the security agencies to partner traditional rulers in the fight against insecurity.
