Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, yesterday in Ilorin appealed to Nigerians to always pray for their leaders even in bad situations.
The Sultan made the appeal while speaking during a Public Lecture and Special Book Presentation in honour of Professor Is’haq Oloyede at the University of Ilorin.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Oloyede clocked 70 on Wednesday and formally retired from the services of the University of Ilorin.
Oloyede, in spite of his retirement, is still the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board,JAMB.
The books written in honour of Oloyede are “Islamics, Scholarship and Service to Society, A Festschrift for Is-haq Olarewaju Oloyede”, and “Glimpses into the Giant: A Tapestry of Tributes to Prof. Is-haq Oloyede at 70”.
The programme was organised by KU8+ Consortium of Universities in Kwara, which has Oloyede as the Director of Board of Trustees.
The Sultan said Nigerians should stop the habit of cursing their leaders, instead urging them to rather pray for the leaders no matter how bad the situation is.
“Don’t curse your leaders, no matter how bad they may be, but pray for them. Never talk ill of your leaders. Even, if a leader is bad, pray for him.
“If you pray for him/her, Almighty God can make him/her turn a new leaf and make him/her a better person that you will enjoy.
“Don’t condemn your leaders. No matter how bad they are, pray for them”, he counselled.
The Sultan, who announced the conferment of a new title of Kuliya of Sokoto on Oloyede, said he was always happy when he visited Ilorin.
Abubakar, who poured encomium on Oloyede, added: “Whenever I come to Ilorin, I always feel so much happy. I came to Ilorin for the first time in 1984, about 40 years ago as an Army Captain.
