GOODWILL MESSAGE BY HIS EXCELLENCY (DR.) ABUBAKAR BUKOLA SARAKI, PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, AT THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE NORTHERN TRADITIONAL RULERS’ COUNCIL (NTRC), HELD IN KADUNA ON NOVEMBER 28, 2017.
PROTOCOL.
Your Eminence, Royal Majesties and Royal Highnesses, it is an honour to be with you today at the annual General Assembly of the Northern Traditional Rulers’ Council (NTRC) on the theme, ‘Harnessing Peace, Security and Development of the Post-Insurgency in the North’. I thank you for the invitation to this venerated platform here in Kaduna, a gateway to the North and one of the most historically important cities in our country, Nigeria.
- This General Assembly is coming not a moment too soon. In fact, if the truth be told, it is coming at a period when Nigeria, especially the North, needs it most. The theme is very timely, given the pressing issues and challenges we are facing at the current time in our country, particularly in this region. I thank the Chairman, His Eminence Alh. Dr. Sa’ad Abubakar CFR mni the Sultan of Sokoto – and indeed the entire membership of the NTRC – for the vision and foresight to convene this noble Assembly with due recognition of the urgency of the theme. Indeed, we have always depended on the wisdom and experience of our traditional rulers in difficult times, such as we are living through in our country right now. It is always reassuring to know that we can come to our elders and traditional rulers in the assurance that you always rise to the occasion, and will never let us down.
- Permit me, also, to express my appreciation to the Northern Traditional Rulers’ Council for your crucial role in calming the polity at times of heated and inflammatory rhetoric. Your Eminence, Royal Majesties and Highness, I recall, in particular, your wise intervention earlier this year during the episode of the so-called Quit Notice; and your meeting with traditional rulers from the South East, which helped, in no small measure, to calm the atmosphere and douse tensions. I might add, that your wise counsel has also been crucial in quelling incidences of hate speech. Always, you are a voice of reason. Always, you remind us of the need for moderation and temperance in our language; and the importance of peace and stability to the development of Nigeria as a whole. A grateful nation thanks you.
- In the same vein, we have full confidence that this General Assembly will help forge a path through the many issues you have identified for your close attention at this summit, such as: the fight against insurgency, cattle rustling, and communal clashes between farmers and herdsmen. Your resolve to debate these issues with a view to helping to proffer lasting solutions through recommendations to government, while harnessing the powerful role of the Traditional institution for that purpose, is most commendable.
- As we all know, the challenges faced in the North are deserving of the most urgent attention from all of us. The devastation wreaked by insurgency in the North East in particular, and the resultant humanitarian crisis, place a moral burden on all of us to look for ways to ease the suffering of our compatriots who have been displaced from their homes, so that they can return to their normal lives in peace.
- Let me assure you of the continuing support of the National Assembly as you deliberate on these issues at this General Assembly. We stand ready to work with you, and to do all we can through the legislative function, to bring succuor where it is needed, even as we strive to deliver lasting peace and development for the region.
- Once again, I thank you for the opportunity of addressing this noble General Assembly. I wish you fruitful deliberations.
Long live Northern Nigeria.
Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE.
