Sultan Sends Strong Message to Nigerians Over Growing Religious Tensions

(The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar. Photo by Sun Nigeria)

The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa'ad Abubakar, has urged religious harmony in Nigeria, calling on both Christian and Muslim communities to cease the exchange of derogatory remarks.

Speaking at an event in Abuja on Tuesday, he emphasised that mutual respect forms the bedrock of peaceful coexistence, stating that both faiths must abandon the practice of denigrating one another.

The Sultan rejected religious supremacy, asserting that neither Christians nor Muslims should regard themselves as inherently superior to the other.

He stressed that such judgments belong solely to the divine, emphasising that all people share a common creator whose role it is to determine worth and standing.

His remarks emerged in the aftermath of comments by Islamic cleric Yahaya Jingir, who had suggested that Christian perceptions of superiority would have prevailed absent a Muslim-Muslim presidential arrangement.

Although the Sultan did not explicitly reference Jingir, he reiterated firmly that no religious faction should claim moral or spiritual precedence.

Beyond addressing inter-faith tensions, the Sultan encouraged Nigerians to restore communal bonds with neighbours irrespective of religious or ethnic differences, emphasising that such obligations are foundational to coexistence.

He condemned the proliferation of fabricated and inflammatory content on online platforms, cautioning that those who deliberately circulate falsehoods about state and federal officials would face divine accountability.

The Sultan called for national effort directed toward reconstruction rather than fragmentation, invoking the historical example of Imam Abubakar Abdullahi, who provided sanctuary to over 200 Christians within his mosque during a Plateau State emergency.

He characterised this act as embodying the humanitarian principles Nigerians ought to continue embodying.