By Abdallah el-Kurebe
Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar has warned politicians to avoid comments that are inimical to the peaceful coexistence of the country.
He made the call when Rivers state Governor, Rotimi Amaechi paid him a visit in his palace in Thursday.
“We must be watchful of what we say; we must have responsible politicians as 2015 approaches; politicians must be responsible, especially at this time when the country is going through crises, including insecurity,” the Sultan said.
He added that it was important to continue to preach unity because the world respects Nigeria. “The world respects us because of our strength and will continue to respect us if we remain strong in spite of challenges. If you kill and burn, I don’t know which community you will govern.”
Describing the Sultanate as an embodiment of the history of the North, Muslims and Nigeria at large, Governor Amaechi said that Nigeria has remained one because is was “in the hands of people like you and you must do nothing than to ensure it remains one.”
He observed that the Federal government must demilitarize democracy by ensuring that elections were free and fair.
“Election is not fair when the military is used to intimidate voters; election cannot be fair if the police is on the side of a particular party,” Amaechi stressed.
He further observed that if the same number of security agencies, including the military were deployed to Sambisa Forest the way they are deployed during elections, “the problem of Boko Haram would be gone.”
