Sultan warns monarchs against partisan politics

IBADAN—THE Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, yesterday, in Ibadan, Oyo State, advised traditional rulers not to be involved in partisan politics, saying that  keeping politics at arm’s length,  would help  sustain the dignity and respect of traditional institutions.
The Sultan spoke during a sympathy visit to the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, over the fire that gutted his palace last month.
He said: “Once we put our eyes and minds in partisan politics, we lose respect. Government believes in us and in the traditional institution and that is the reason we have to be apolitical.”
The monarch also asked other rulers across the country to bridge the gaps among them, saying, “It is left for us to strengthen the ties existing between us by being good leaders.”
Alhaji Abubakar, who frowned at the way the subject of History was gradually becoming irrelevant to educationists who expunged it from the school curriculum, said it was not the best as coming generations would lose touch with their cultural heritage.

He tasked political leaders to be just and fair in the distribution of the dividends of democracy.