The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) led by its President-General and the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, has commiserate with the Federal and Sokoto state governments as well as all Nigerians over the death of a former President Alhaji Shehu Aliyu Usman Shagari.
The Chairman, NSCIA Media, Alhaji Femi Abbas, in a statement on Wednesday urged the citizenry to learn from the exemplary lifestyle of late Shagari and emulate it for the progress of Nigeria.
“The NSCIA particularly condoles with his family and chieftains of the Sultanate of Sokoto state among whom he was a front liner in his lifetime.
“We pray that the Almighty Allah repose his soul in eternal bliss and grant his immediate and extended families the fortitude to bear the agony that may arise from his demise,” Abbas said.
“Alhaji Shehu Shagari was such a household name and quintessential role model whose legacies many Nigerians cannot afford to discountenance. Nevertheless, the aspect that concerns the NSCIA most in his life’s odyssey is religion,” he said.
He recalled that it was Alhaji Shagari, as Nigeria’s first elected Executive President that approved N10m each for the commencement of building a National Mosque and a National Ecumenical Church in Abuja at a time when Naira was really strong and the foundation of Abuja as a city was just being laid.
He said that the Presidential gesture, which no religious group rejected, was a confirmation that Nigeria is indeed a multi-religious and not a secular country as being peddled in certain quarters for selfish reasons.
“Today, the two houses of worship are conspicuous in Abuja with their grandiose postures to the finite attraction of foreign tourists who see them as symbols of national unity.
“Not only that, the late Executive President also tackled diplomatically and militarily, as then warranted, a frightening national crisis in the guise of religion engendered by one Cameroonian called Muhammad Marwa Maitatsine in most parts of Northern Nigeria in the Second Republic.
“Though Alhaji Shehu Shagari was a quiet and easy going personality, he never wavered in taking necessary decisions in the interest of unity in the country.
“As a Muslim, Alhaji Shagari never hesitated in justifying the principle of justice, fairness and equity which his religion (Islam) emphasizes,” Abbas added.
