Politicians exploit religious, ethnic sentiments- Sultan

 

Sultan of Sokoto Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubabar has said sectarian crises in the country are fueled by unscrupulous politicians who exploit religious and ethnic hatred for political gains.

The Sultan made this known on Friday in a lecture he delivered at the National Defence College titled, "Traditional and Religious Institutions in Nigeria: Implication for National Security".

He said although many sectarian crises in Nigeria usually develop a distinct religious coloration, the religious content of the crises is, in most instances, not significant.

The religious leader added that the root of the crises is in the complex historical, ethnical, environmental and political realities of Nigeria, including political competition and ethno-religious disharmony.

Sultan Abubakar said: “Unwholesome and divisive politics has tended to propagate hatred and ill-feeling and the demonization of entire religious and ethnic groups.”

He added that many sectarian conflicts began as expressions of local political grievances only to snowball into systemic religious crises which affected the nation as a whole.

He added that in some northern states there are more pupils in the traditional Islamic institutions than there are in conventional school systems.

The Sultan lamented that: “it is therefore not surprising that the dominant form of intra-religious conflict within the Muslim Community …has been predicated on this divide.”

He stated that some groups have actively exploited the anti western sentiments to establish a large following for their organizations and used them to occasionally wreck havoc on the society.

 

 Daily Trust

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