Sultan: Nigeria may not survive another civil war

Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, sultan of Sokoto, has cautioned against repeating the same mistakes that plunged Nigeria into a civil war, noting that the country may not survive another one.

Abubakar gave the advice on Wednesday at the ‘Traditional Rulers Day’ as part of activities marking the 50th anniversary of Rivers in Port Harcourt.

“As a nation, we have gone through and surmounted the worst of all, a civil war. I think we have lessons to learn from that because very few nations could survive civil war,” the sultan said.

“We must check the lessons and guard against repeating such mistakes and move forward.”

Abubakar said that while government at all levels have the responsibility within the constraints of its budget to address the issues, the traditional institution also have an important role to play.

According to him, the traditional institution by proximity to the poor, have a deeper understanding and appreciation of the levels of poverty.

“By their presence and grasp of the local environment, they are better positioned to drive any genuine transformation of the local economy,” he said.

“Being the direct leaders of the poor, they are part of the major stakeholders in the alleviation of poverty, they daily bear the brunt of the consequence of poverty.”

Abubakar advocated the urbanising and building of industries in the local areas to achieve a sustainable economic policy.

He said that economic industries where craftsmen and other professionals would be trained to meet the daily needs of the societal were indispensable.

“Such society will have value of dignity of labour in order to inculcate hard work and discourage laziness and begging,” he said.

Abubakar said that the traditional institution had quality and educated people with the best of professions.

“The institution is fountain of knowledge for political leaders to tap from free of charge as we progress further in nation building,” the sultan added.