The Sultan of Sokoto and President, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, has lamented that things are not getting better in the country.

He spoke in Gombe during the 3rd Conference of the Da’awah Coordination Council of Nigeria (DCCN), an amalgamation of about 52 Da’awa groups in Gombe.

The Sultan, who lamented over the high cost of living and insecurity bedeviling the country, said action must be taken by political leaders and the elite to address the issues.

“We must tell ourselves the home truth and stop deceiving ourselves that things are getting better. The truth is, things are not getting better. Therefore, the earlier we know things are not getting better the better for us, so that we can sit down and find means and ways of solving our problems.

“We must work hard to tackle the insecurity, hunger, poverty, and all the negative things afflicting our great country. We have problems, yes we know we have problems and I have said it before that things are not just normal and right in this country, but we can make things normal and right by Allah’s wish, so we have to work hard,” he said.

“People are suffering and we have few people that have so much and too many people that have nothing, yet we are not helping the poor,” he added.

He advised the government to get adequate food supply and store, so as to sell at a much-subsidized rate to the common man.

The monarch emphasized that without food, the country cannot experience peace, security, and development, “And without development, we are just a bunch of people sitting down.”

Abubakar admonished leaders to take leadership as a challenge that God has given to them, and, “therefore, do good to the people in order to get admitted into Paradise in the hereafter.”

He also lamented that the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) has been meeting quarterly to discuss the same issues.

“We are discussing the same issues again and again without implementing what we have been discussing. That shows that something is wrong with us as leaders and we must sit down and find those things that are wrong with us, to tackle the insecurity before it envelops and devours all of us,” he warned.

The monarch also admonished religious leaders to stop being sentimental on their pulpits by misleading people for monetary gain or to get more followers.