The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III, has declared that he would continue to speak the truth to power, even if some people might not be comfortable with it.
The monarch, who stated this at the 10th Memorial Anniversary Lecture of Dr Abubakar Olusola Saraki, charged leaders to always take his advice as someone who is concerned about the well-being of the people.
Mr Abubakar, who chaired the occasion, said theme of the anniversary, “The Leadership and Followership Debate,” was apt and important, owing to the electioneering period Nigerians currently face.
He said, “We are into political activities and we are looking for leaders to steer the ship of state to an excellent destination, we must look at who a leader should be, what leadership should not be, what we should do as followers to ensure we have a good leader.
“Sometimes when we say the truth as it is, some leaders don’t feel so good about it, but we will continue saying the truth in whatever we do and whatever we say.
“When we do so, leaders should take such comments, as advice from people who are so concerned about what happens to the people that the Almighty Allah places under their care as leaders, so that you can discharge and acquit yourself most honorably here on earth.”
The monarch tasked leaders to always uphold the truth, honesty, transparency and accountability to their subjects.
Delivering the memorial lecture, the former Director of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission, Patrick Lumumba, urged Nigerian leaders to always wake up to their responsibilities by doing the right thing.
He warned that if they failed to do the right thing there would always be a day of reckoning.
Mr Lumumba said it was time that Nigeria and African leaders do away with the vestiges of colonialism and do what was right for the African continent.
