Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Mohammad Abubakar II, cautioned religious leaders against misleading their followers for personal gain.
According to him, the majority of people who listen to religious leaders in mosques and churches believe in them because they view them as saviors.
Sultan said only God can save any human being, urging them to always tell their followers the truth
The Sultan made these remarks during the Regional Conference on Climate Change-Induced Conflicts in Northern Nigeria, hosted by the Kaduna State Bureau of Interfaith in collaboration with International Alert, on Monday.
“90 percent of the sects groups that believe in us including those from Christians groups all listen to their leaders at all time at the preaching ground at mosque and so one. At various churches pastors spoke with the congregations and they believed in those leaders . Please tell the truth to your followers . Don’t tell them lies so that they love you to think you are their saviour .You cannot save anybody .Only Allah can save any human being.
“We need prayers for our country , intensify prayers for our president, for our governors and Local Government Chairmen and for all leaders. Let intensify prayers in all masajid anywhere. Our imams are doing a lot and I listen to you and commend you.
“Do your best in worshiping Allah (God) and leave the rest to Him, not to anybody. Don’t follow those who will lead you astray. So many things have been happening in this country, and we believe we must return to Allah. Intensify prayers for our country in all mosques. I won’t mention churches because the CAN President is here, and I believe he will say the same thing.
“A lot of people say we have never had it so bad, but no matter how difficult it is, ease will come. We believe nothing lasts forever. Nothing bad and nothing good lasts forever. Let us intensify prayers in our congregations and encourage our followers to pray for our leaders. We will not castigate them; we will allow Almighty Allah to deal with them as He wishes and He will.
“Like one of the speakers said, Allah will ask all of us what we did with the leadership He gave us on earth. On that day, you will be on your own; nobody will be there for you. No deputy governor will be there for the governor, no special adviser or SSG will be there.
“You are on your own, as I always say. All of us will be on our own. Let us fear Allah in whatever we do and pray for our country. We are blessed; go around to other countries and see. We have challenges, yes, but nothing lasts forever. With hard work and commitment, we can become a better country.” He said
Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) President, Most Reverend Dr. D.C. Okoh, stated the need to educate the public about the impacts of climate change and the importance of environmental stewardship.
The State Governor Senator Uba Sani said the Regional Conference and Maiden Meeting will give the Heads of Religious Agencies and other critical stakeholders the opportunity to fashion ways and means of creating synergy, collaboration and interface among themselves in their operations.
