ABUJA – The Sultan of Sokotoy and Co-Chair of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), HRH Abubakar Sa’ad III, on Wednesday cautioned that the Council risks slipping into irrelevance unless faith leaders embrace sincerity, accountability and honest engagement.
His warning came as the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) pressed for stronger action on insecurity, while the Federal Government dismissed global allegations of religious persecution.
The sharp exchanges played out at the Second Tri-Annual Meeting of NIREC in Abuja, where the Sultan, CAN President Archbishop Daniel Okoh, and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, delivered some of their bluntest assessments yet of Nigeria’s security and interfaith tensions.
The Sultan, speaking with unusual candour, said NIREC had drifted from its founding purpose and must urgently confront internal contradictions weakening its credibility.
Many years ago, when I walked in here, the atmosphere was very, very friendly and loving. Anyone seeing the discussions and chats going on then would immediately know we were in a happy mood. Now, unless something is wrong somewhere, we need to ask ourselves some questions,” the royal father said.
He accused some religious leaders of expressing unity inside NIREC meetings only to make divisive comments outside, a pattern he said undermines interfaith stability.
“We sit down and say so many good things to one another, knowing God owns everything. Yet, when we go out, away from our comfort zone, we begin to say negative things about one another. Are we really honest with ourselves?” he queried.
