Follow @9jaLife IT came straight without apologies. And it was a marked departure from the path trodden by the leaders of the region. It was the verdict that the Northern part of the country is responsible for its problems. And the verdict came from one who should know, the Sultan of Sokoto and President General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Muhammed Sa'ad Abubakar III. Abubakar also stressed that no one could Islamise Nigeria while urging the citizens to ensure they promote national unity. The Sultan's position came as the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, the former Vice Presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and Convener, Save Nigeria group, Pastor Tunde Bakare and the Primate of all Nigeria (Anglican Communion), the Most Revd. Nicholas Okoh urged the government to tackle the nation's security challenges and improve the lot of the people. Abubakar who condemned the activities of Boko Haram in some parts of the North explained that no good Muslim or Christian would be part of the insurgency meant to disintegrate the nation, just as he added that "nobody either Christian or Muslim can impose his religion on the country." The Sultan said that the insecurity and other associated challenges bedeviling the Northern region were self-inflicted by northerners. Abubakar nevertheless, insisted that only dialogue with any aggrieved party would remain the solution to the security problem rather than violence or force, saying, the problem of the North would remain the problem of the entire country; and the North could not be left with its problems. According to him, traditional and religious leaders played their part in the past, and that they would not give up until the challenges are permanently solved. The Sultan lamented the inability of the relevant government authorities to implement their series of well-articulated recommendations that could have helped in addressing the challenges. Abubakar who spoke in Kaduna Monday at the meeting of the Northern Governors Peace and Reconciliation Committee with himself and the leaders of the CAN remarked: "Let us sit and talk freely and articulate positions that will bring us out of the quagmire we put [...]
