Sultan task BOBA members to support the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari

Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, the Sultan of Sokoto has tasked former heads of state of Nigeria to support the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari and take pragmatic positions on issues bothering on national growth

The Guardian reports that the sultan said this in his remarks at the 2015 annual lecture organised by the members of Barewa Old Boys Association (BOBA) in Kaduna.

He noted that BOBA members occupied prominent positions in the country as some of them were state governors, retired chief judges of the federation, emirs, traditional rulers, etc. and therefore should not shy away from contributing to the development of Nigeria.

He added that the members were respectable people in Nigeria and should therefore use their position for national development.

“There is no ruling leader in this country that is not proud of BOBA members. We should not shy away from discussing national issues. So we should be able to send our ideas on national issues to the President or the state governors whenever we gather like this.”

Dr. Usman Bugaje who is the keynote speaker and a former member of the House of Representatives urged political parties to remove the “big men of politics, who are too often the big bags, send their boys and girls to hold party position for them, even where they are clearly incompetent.”

“In other words, party positions and party criteria must prioritize knowledge and character and not loyalty and thuggery as is the case at the moment,”

Barnabas Bala Bantex who was representing the governor of Kaduna state, Malam Nasir El-Rufai said the state administration was doing a lot to establish development through its plans.

The sultan has been outspoken lately about the role of politicians in national development. He advised Nigerians not to allow themselves to be puppets in the hands of corrupt government officials