* Saraki and Sultan of Sokoto
By  Steve Oni, Ilorin

 The  Sultan of  Sokoto,  Muhammad Saad  Abubakar, and  the  Senate  President,  Dr  Bukola  Saraki, have enjoined Nigerians  to  pray for  the  safe  return  of President  Muhammadu  Buhari  from the  United  Kingdom where  he had  gone  on medical  vacation.

 The  duo made the  call in their  respective speeches   at  the  closing  ceremony  of  the  31st  National Quranic Recitation Competition in Ilorin, the   Kwara  state capital.

 The  10-day  event ended  Saturday and all the  winners  went home with  various  types  of  awards.

 The Sultan said: "Let's  offer  prayers   for our President for God  to  ensure that he  comes  back  safely. 

 "Let's also  pray  for  our  political  leaders for  God to  show  His mercy on  them to  enable  them 
provide the   right  leadership  for  the  country ".

 Sultan, who  described  religion  as a personal  matter,  equally  admonished Nigerians  to see the problems of poverty and unemployment ravaging the country as common problems that would, with patience and support of all and sundry, be a thing of the past before long, urging " let's  face our  common  problems  instead  of waging  religious  war. "

 The  monarch,  who  said  Muslims  are peace loving,  hailed  the  court  of appeal's  verdict  on  the  right  of female Muslims  to  wear  hijab.

 He, therefore,  urged  Muslim  organisations  in the  country  to  always  employ  legal means in asking  for  their  rights.

 "As Muslims,  we  do not  intend to  dominate  anyone,  but  what  we demand  is the  freedom  to  practise  our  religion. Religion  is a personal  matter.  We  should  preach peace,  stability and  peaceful  coexistence no matter what  religion  we  profess,"he counselled.

 The  Sultan  praised  the  organisers and the Kwara  state  government  for a successful  outing, noting that "this  is the first time  we  have 33 participating states  and  this  shows the  acceptability  of the  host state  because  of  its  peaceful  nature. "

 Also speaking,  the Senate  President,  Dr  Bukola  Saraki, urged  the  gathering  to pray  to  God  to continue  to  grant President  Muhammadu Buhari  good  health  and  wisdom. 

 While  commending  the  participants of  the  event,  Saraki noted that the knowledge of the holy Quran is one of the best ways to spread the words of God.

 He said : "I am convinced that if we all forget about religion and look at the rationality of the words contained in the holy books, our world will be better. The holy books of the two major religions, the Quran and Bible, teach morality, justice, equity, love, compassion, respect for elders, making money through just and fair means and many other virtues which if we all imbibe them, there will not be war, disease, poverty, squalor, deprivation, crime and injustice..

 "The holy books talk about the responsibility and burden of leadership. The books say those of us in positions of leadership will have a lot to account for before Allah. Also, It is true that all of us are in one position of leadership or the other. We are leaders at various levels and we will be held accountable. Even as followers, we will be held accountable on whether we have played our role in making our leaders lead with the fear of Allah.

 "More importantly, I want to enjoin those of you who have proven to be experts in the memorisation of the Quran to please help preach the words of God to the high and low in a peaceful manner. Use your knowledge of the holy book to spread love, peaceful co-existence, understanding, tolerance, unity, compassion and genuine fear of Allah.

 "Use your knowledge of the Quran to let the world know that those who discourage people from acquiring education are not good Muslims. Let the world know that those who obstruct the peace of the world do not represent Islam. Let the world know that our holy Prophet lived peacefully with Christians and Jews. He taught us to even emulate him. That is the essence of Hadiths. If we have taken to the words of Prophet Muhammmed (saw), there would have been peace and development in our country and the world over.

 " Let me use the opportunity of the gathering of distinguished members of the Ulammahs to ask that you all pray for our President, Muhammadu Buhari. May Almighty Allah continue to give him good health, the wisdom and know-how to lead this country in peace and to prosperity. Also, pray for our country to have peace, unity, economic prosperity and political stability ."

 The  Kwara  state  governor,  Alhaji Abdulfatah  Ahmed, praised  the  organisers  of  the  event for  organising  a successful  and  memorable  programme.

 He rejoiced  with the  participants,  noting  that  memorisation  of Qur'an demands a  lot  of  dedication.

 He  said  conscious  effort  must  be made  in making Quran  accessible to  both  Muslims  and  non  Muslims  to  promote  a better  understanding  of the  holy  book.