By Mohammed Baba Busu
The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, has conferred on the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, and some prominent Nigerians, the Sultan Bello Exemplary Good Governance 1445AH (2023) Award.
Prominent among the award recipients included a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mahmoud Yayale Ahmed, the Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede and Prof. Khadija Nuhu.
Sultan Sa’ad said Etsu Nupe and others who got the award, were chosen because of their positive contributions to the development of their societies and the country.
He described the awardees as great nationalists with proven integrity and honesty.
Reacting to the award, the Etsu Nupe and Chairman, Niger State Council of Traditional Rulers, commended Sultan for recognising him as one of the awardees.
According to Etsu Nupe, the award will spur him to do more for the development of Islamic religion and national development.
The royal father expressed gratitude to the Sultan and enjoined Muslims to always identify with the tenets of Islam.
“We must always be proud of our religion. If we are shying away from identifying with our religion, we are doing great disservice to our nation.
“We must identify with the tenets of Islam and never compromise the teaching of the religion,” Etsu Nupe said.
The ceremony, which was part of the activities that marked the 10th Sheikh Usman bin Fodiyo Week, was attended by the governors of Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara states as well as emir of Zazzau and the renowned global cleric, Dr. Zaki Naik, among others.