Cleric sacked for criticizing govt, Sheik Khalid, speaks again, talks on why insecurity persists in Nigeria

The sacked Chief Imam of Apo Legislators’ Quarters Central Mosque, Sheikh Muhammad Nuru Khalid, has spoken out again against the government of the day.

He pinpointed the cause of the festering insecurity in Nigeria, adding that there is paucity of political will to address the issue squarely.

Sheikh Khalid, who said this in an interview with journalists during the weekend, hinted that political leaders as well as Nigerians are not patriotic enough, blaming the current situation on leadership ineptitude.

It would be recalled that Sheikh Khalid was disengaged from Apo Legislators’ Quarters Central Mosque following his swipe at political leaders over their lack of concern for the security of lives and property in the country.

The cleric was called up on a new assignment twenty-four hours after his sack by his previous mosque.

He said: “The political will is not enough. There must be political will before you can deal with insecurity and it must be a very strong one, so that you can deal with anybody who fails to discharge his duties amongst the security personnel.

“You need strong political will to demand accountability on the allocations voted for security and where people are found wanting, they should be held to account and asked to explain why we voted this amount for security and yet there is no security”, he added.

READ ALSO: 24 hours after sack, Buhari critic, Sheikh Khalid, gets new appointment

The Cleric also noted that the Buhari-led administration had failed in its promise to secure Nigeria, stressing that the government must seek forgiveness from Nigerians instead of its consistent pretence.

“If you say it is impossible to have a secured Nigeria, then the present government should apologise and seek forgiveness from Nigerians because it is in their manifestos. They promised security and not to hand us over to terrorists.

“If we remind them, this should not be a sin. In my last sermon, I said if you cannot give us security, we would not vote for you in 2023. It is an indirect message and they understood it because they know what the message means. The message is clear, we will not fold our arms; they know we will not hesitate to vote them out come 2023 if insecurity is not solved”, he said.

Fielding question on the role of scholars in these troubled times, Sheikh Khalid insisted every genuine religious leader must dare the government and speak the truth, adding that it is one of the reasons they exist.

He said: “What’s the essence of preaching if I will not say no to killings? What’s the essence of preaching if I will not preach about good governance? I am trying to show them that, look you’ve benefited from the failure of the former government and if you’re not careful, history will repeat itself.

“Now we are preparing for 2023 elections, what will you tell Nigerians? Vote us again and continue to suffer? Because insecurity will continue to persist. We need leaders that are for the masses, not elites who can fly out of the country and get shelter anywhere they like in the world.”

He advised Nigerians to be wise in their choice of leaders in 2023, adding that the country is deserving of trustworthy and committed leaders to tackle its multilayered problems.

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