Nigeria’s Vice President, Kashim Shettima on Friday visited the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, and emphasized the need for peace for the development of the country.
Vice President Shettima said his visit to the Sultan’s palace was at the behest of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to convey Sallah greetings to him and the Sultanate Council.
He said: “Your Eminence, I’m here at the behest of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to specially come and Sokoto to convey Sallah greetings and best wishes to the Sultan of Sokoto, the leader of the Ummah in Nigeria in this special time of the Eid Al-Adha festival.
“The Sultan of Sokoto is an institution, not only in Northern Nigeria, but in the West African sub-region in the Muslim world.”
Stressing the dialectical relationship between peace and development, Shettima said “There cannot be peace without development; there can never be development without peace.”
According to him, President Tinubu believes that “It is cheaper for him to maintain his relationship with Sarkin than to fight him.
“It is a force of nature. It is cheaper for him to maintain his relationship with the Sultanate.”
100% Support
In his remarks, the Sultan pledged the support of the Sultanate Council for the administration of President Tinubu and for his policies.
“We support you 100% insha Allah. We give you our word at any time you reach out to us, or you don’t reach out to us, we support the government and we will do whatever it takes to maintain peace and stability in our state, in our country, Nigeria.”
The Sultan acknowledged the Vice President’s call for peace and stated that both the government and traditional councils would continue to tell each other about the importance of peace in the country.
“We need peace and while we need peace we have to also take active issues. Today is exactly a month since you were sworn in and you have done a lot within a month.
“I think it is something that we need to acknowledge. Some issues are so bad to some people but we must take decisions.
“If you don’t take decision, you cannot take any action at all. From decision taken, we will see the benefits later on.
“So, we need to conform with the normal standard of reaching out to everybody. Communication is important. We are here as your communicators. We discuss; we go and tell people the way things are.”
He said that the policies introduced by the government might bring hardship on the people but urged them to persevere as such policies would make life better in the future.
“Policies are important; some stringent policies are important for us to move forward, but I believe we must always take people along, so that everybody knows what we are doing and why we are doing it.
“At the end of it, people will say Alhamdullilahi, we suffered before, but now we are much better.”
Support To Traditional Institutions
The Vice President, Kashim Shettima, restated more support and cooperation with traditional Institutions across the country.
He said the present administration in the country has high regard and respect for Nigeria’s traditional leaders considering their role in sustainable development.
“Your Eminent, we are here to seek your blessing and greet you as loyal subject to the traditional Institution.
“We will continue to respect our tradition leaders, we are always loyal and our respect to the instruction is unshakable,” he said.
The Vice President also emphasise that the state Governor, Ahmad Aliyu, should in no any circumstance allow any misunderstanding between him and the Sultan.
“I have advised the governor not to allow misunderstanding between him and our leader Sen. Aliyu Wamakko, as well as always regard and respect the Sultan.
“This is in the best interest of running an administration that is more acceptable to the people,” the Vice President said.
The Vice President added that there is need for the Northern leaders to continue to embrace peace with one another toward facing the region lot of challenges.
“We are all aware of the numerous challenges in our region, ranging from insecurity, poverty among many others.
“Therefore, we should embrace one another, join hands together in addressing our challenges for the best of the people, the region and the country in general,” he added.
The Sultan appreciated the Vice President for the visit, while assuring him of the Sultanate Council’s and other traditional rulers’ commitment to support the current administration to succeed.
He said the visit is a homecoming, adding that it is highly encouraging the instruction’s struggle toward the best for the society.
Sultan Abubakar further commended President Tinubu’s economic transformation that yielded many result in the country.
The Vice President was accompanied on the visit by the Governor of Sokoto State, Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto; the Governor of Bornu State, Babagana Zullum; the Senator representing Sokoto North in the National Assembly, Aliyu Wammako, among others.
PIAK
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