Co-President of the Religion for Peace World Council and Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, has sought the cancellation of Nigeria’s external debt
He also called for the cessation of the ongoing hostilities in Gaza, where thousands of women and children are being starved to death, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The Sultan spoke at the one-day World Council meeting in Istanbul, once known as Constantinople in Turkiye.
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The meeting, which takes place every five years, was last held in Lindau, Germany. It was attended by about 60 countries with faithful of numerous religions, like the Hindu, Baha’i, Catholics, Anglicans, Jewish, and Muslims, as well as the Orthodox Coptic church.
The Patriarch of the City of Constantinople, His All Majesty Bartholomew I, gave a keynote address espousing the desirability of a global alliance of conscience and restoration of the original value systems embedded in all religions and shared by all humanity in order to achieve peace and social harmony in the world.
The two main sessions featured extensive examination of the Debt burden on low-income societies, as well as a session on faith, dignity and artificial intelligence (AI) with the attendant concerns of its effect on our various cultures and religions.
In his presentation during the second session on the debt crisis in underprivileged societies, Sultan Abubakar examined the impact of huge debt burdens on the economies of developing countries, their consequences, as well as ramifications.
The Sultan recommended immediate debt cancellation for low-income group countries all over the world to enable them to tackle the wealth imbalance, abolish past exploitative policies as well as reduce poverty by equitable redistribution of wealth all over the world.
A statement by a member of the Sultan’s delegation and Kogunan Sokoto, Dr. Danladi Bako, said the two sessions witnessed robust contributions from technocrats, religious groups, gender advocates, scholars, as well as royalty.
At the end of the council’s meeting, a nine-point set of resolutions read by the Secretary General, Dr. Francis Kuria, was unanimously endorsed by the global body.
Among them is the resolution to call on world leaders to halt the genocide in Gaza immediately.
