Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III who is the Sultan of Sokoto has urged Nigerians to work towards avoiding the mistakes that led to Biafra Civil war.
The Punch reports that the Sultan gave this plea while delivering his keynote address at the Traditional Rulers’ Day during the ongoing Rivers State Golden Jubilee celebration with the theme, “Traditional Institution in Nigeria and the Challenge of Re-engineering Viable Local Economies.”
He emphasized the need for Nigerians to coexist peacefully as another civil war would tear the country down. He said: “Nigeria is just above 50 years and had fought a civil war. We must understand that Nigeria cannot survive another Civil War. Therefore, Nigerians should work against repeating such mistakes that led us to that Civil War.”
He called on politicians to work with traditional rulers and not see them as threats as they existed even before the creation of Nigeria. “The traditional institution was already here before Nigeria came into existence. When the colonial masters came, they saw a well organised traditional institution and that was why most parts of the country were ruled by them through the traditional rulers.
“The traditional institution in Nigeria has what it takes to bring the best out of our communities and our country. The politicians should not see the traditional institution as a threat, rather they should work with us.”
He also urged traditional rulers in Rivers to support the government’s policies on growth and development.
