The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, has expressed worry about the sate-of-the nation and asked President Muhammadu Buhari and other office holders to take urgent steps towards fixing the problems.
Speaking on Friday during the Independence Day Public Lecture held at the National Mosque auditorium in Abuja, the Sultan expressed worry about unemployment and fate of youths in Nigeria and wondered “What is government doing about this?”
“We should search ourselves where we are right now. Are we in the Nigerian nation of our dream? Can 200 million people say ‘yes’ this is the country which we desire? It is a question for which I don’t have answers,” he added.
The Sultan said: “Governance is not a one man show. It is for us to come together and move the country forward. As Muslims, we know the import of leadership. We should not be shy to ask our leaders to do the just and be just in handling the affairs of our people.”
He lamented that leadership failure was the reason Nigerian youths embark on the perilous migration to Europe, with many of them perishing in the desert and Mediterranean Sea.
The monarch noted that if Nigerian youths are gainfully engaged, they will not be at risk of xenophobic attacks in South Africa, and the urge to migrate abroad would be minimised.
His words: “Our youths should be our pride. I say yes and no. Some of them have excelled all over the world in all fields and have won laurels.
“At the same time, some involve in criminality like banditry, insurgency and advance fee fraud. What pushed them into this, we must find out and correct. What is government doing about this?”
FCT Minister, Muhammad Musa Bello represented President Muhammadu Buhari at the lecture which was attended by many Muslims dignitaries from all walks of life.