Confab: Sultan leads protest to Jonathan

Jonathan said this yesterday when the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, led his members to the Presidential Villa to protest over the alleged marginalisation of Muslims in the composition of the conference.
The president and the NSCIA held a closed door meeting which lasted for over one hour.
Addressing State House journalists after the meeting, the Secretary-General of the NSCIA, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, said Jonathan gave the council the reasons to reassure the Muslims that they were not deliberately marginalised and that the government was fair to the entire populace.
Oloyede hinted that they were in the Villa to protest over the issues, saying though Jonathan had expressed his mind, the council believed that it was proper to protest and assume that a leader would always be just.
“What we came to discuss with the president. It’s to consult with Mr. President that we’re happy we consulted with him, and he has given us reasons to re-assure the Muslims that Muslims in Nigeria are not deliberately marginalized,” Oloyede said.
“And he has asked us to convey the feelings of the government, the genuineness of the government, the fairness of the government to the entire populace that if there are issues that are not as they ought to be, they were not definitely deliberate.
“And we want to believe that Mr. President told us his mind, but we also want to believe that it’s proper to protest, it’s also proper to assume that a leader will always be just even if there are mistakes thereafter.
“We just felt that we must convey the feelings of the Muslims in Nigeria to Mr. President, and he has given us his words to re-assure the Muslim community that he’s a genuine and committed Christian who will not be unjust to others.”
Asked to explain what those feelings were, Oloyede simply said: “If you’re a Muslim, you’ll know the feelings of the Muslims presently about the composition of the National Conference.”