 I am very deeply honored and delighted to share this momentous occasion with you today, an event which honors the memory of a towering figure of our national history, Sa Amadou Bailou, the Sadhana of Sokoto. I wish to thank the organizing committee for your kind invitation. I also bring you the very warm greetings and good wishes of President Muhammad Abu Hari. Let me also commend the guest speaker, Isra'a Hainaz, the Honorable Justice Sidi Baghe retired, for that informative, insightful, historical, and contemporary review of law and policy on the role of northern traditional institutions in the peace and security framework. And for his far-reaching proposals and suggestions. And I must say that we are all expectantly waiting for the proposals that have gone to the National Assembly, the committee of which he was chair, prepared that proposal as we've been told by Governor Simon Lalong, and we hope that the National Assembly will approve those proposals for purposes of constitutional amendment. I must also commend the Sa Amadou Bailou Foundation for sustaining this very important platform for constant introspection and action on national development, and importantly ensuring that we remember the inspiring and exemplary legacy of the great patriot and statesman, Sa Amadou Bailou, the Sadhana of Sokoto. A legacy of unifying the peoples of the North around a common purpose and the visionary pursuit of the actualization of their individual and collective potential. For me and I know for very many, it's impossible to imagine the multiple possibilities that Northern Nigeria represents for the country and Africa at large without the contributions of the Sadhana, as manifested in the institutions that laid the foundation for the regional development from the illustrious Sa Amadou Bailou University to the Northern Nigeria Development Company to his pioneering commitment to girl child education, that birthed the Queen Elizabeth School in Eloring in 1956, a school that in turn produced outstanding Nigerian women across Nigeria, such as Yonbu Fatih Lamea Bubaka, the former First Lady who went on to become the Chief Judge of Niger State, the first female engineer in the North, engineer Yelwa Tella, Mrs. Sarah Jubrill, Nigeria's first female presidential candidate, the first female vice chancellor of the University of Abuja, Dr. Gambo Larabab-Dulai, the first female veterinary doctor in West Africa, and this first female doctor in West Africa incidentally come from Abu State but attended the school which of course was founded by the Sadhana, Dr. Mrs. Fabumi, amongst others. Such an extensive impact spanning every facet of human development and life lies at the core of Sadhana's enduring presence in our collective memory. That and the excellent personal attributes of the Sadhana that to this day resonate in the minds of those privileged to have known him in person and those of us and many who are here, students of his life and work, his love for the talakawa, his humility, his punctuality, his generous disposition to all. His open, his open and inclusive approach to governance earning him the title of Gamji Dankwari. Sadhana was a man of peace and courage and a believer in and a natural of traditional institutions and I think that most of what we remember about him today is such an important lesson for those of us who hold public office or who hold any type of leadership position because he demonstrated that it is possible to lead with conscience and as the Sultan has said with fairness and justice. Our theme today speaks to the revival of the northern traditional institutions as an urgently needed arbiter for peace and security. The Emirate system of northern Nigeria was a well-structured institution with a network of community leaders who helped sustain peace and security throughout their domains, the Galadimas, the Waziris, the Madawakis, the Sarking Fadas, the Maggages, the Family Heads, the Ward Heads, the Village Heads, the District Heads. When conflicts arose, the revered traditional rulers, custodians of communal beliefs of values and traditions were at hand for conflict management and resolution, but beforehand they worked tirelessly in the area of conflict prevention. Their legitimacy was not necessarily dependent on the symbols of authority which have been introduced by modernization. They enjoyed the respect and obedience of people and were held in high regard because they were responsible and responsive to the earnings of their people. They were effective in governance, mainly as a result of the multi-stakeholder approach that they applied to leadership. In today's world, the continued existence of these traditional institutions and communal sensibilities side by side with the machinery of our modern democracy gives us an advantage that we must invoke. The moral and legal frameworks of this entrenched structural duality which we have allows us to be able to tackle problems like insecurity holistically. There is a moral orbit of trust that traditional leaders who live in closest proximity to the people possess that the law in a strict sense does not possess. It is this social consensus secured at the community level that makes our larger political consensus tenable. The extensive influence within the existing northern traditional leadership is urgently needed today more than ever before. The soul of the north and of Nigeria by extension is being contested by some of the most evil and destructive forces in contemporary history. And there are modern examples of the overwhelming human carnage that can result if we do not put up tough collaborative resistance. And we say collaborative resistance because we speak also of the resistance that must come from the traditional institutions against these forces of evil. Neither the glorious legacies of the past, nor the future of our children, or the future that our children will inherit will be immune if we do not check this onslaught. Mr. President has on numerous occasions reiterated the view that our peace and security architecture must recognize that traditional institutions are our first line of defense against the forces of anarchy. This explains why the federal government has deepened its partnership with the traditional institutions on several fronts. Given their familiarity with the local environment, traditional institutions are integrals to our nationwide program of community policing and can deliver valuable intelligence to state authorities. In many communities, the military and law enforcement agencies are partnering with the local age-grade groups, hunters and various associations under the sanction of traditional leadership. On its part, the government has remained resolute in the fight against terrorists and insurgents. Recent efforts have focused on deploying technology for surveillance, intelligence gathering, and also attack. And we'll also continue to encourage collaboration between the Federal Ministry of Justice and their state counterparts and law enforcement to ensure that those who have been apprehended for terrorism and violent crimes are effectively and speedily prosecuted. This is a fight. This is a fight, an existential fight for this nation. And we are determined to win. And we know that by the grace of God, all of these evil forces will be completely exterminated from this nation. Traditional institutions have been a key part of the conception and execution of our social investment programs. The school feeding program, the trade and money program, the market money program, the enterprise programs, all of the programs that we've had, our national livestock transformation program, addressing conflicts between farmers and herders, and also in the implementation of the at-risk children's program at P, an initiative that addresses vulnerable children who lack social protection and basic formal education. In the discussions on peace and security, it's important that we recognize that the crisis of human insecurity, inherent in having millions of out-of-school children condemned to a life of destitution, roaming our streets, is one that is very dear and stuck. This is why the partnership between the government at the federal and state level and traditional rulers is critical. When traditional institutions throw their moral weight behind progressive causes, whether it is educating the girl child and getting out of school children into schools or championing the conversation of our environment and combating the ravages of drug abuse, positive things happen. There are all areas, and several of these areas are areas of concern for our administration, and there is no doubt that we can prevail in these challenges if we work together. Policy and legislation are good ways to drive change, but the impact of these methods is very dramatically amplified when they are backed by the moral heft of sentinels of tradition at the communal level. The cross-migration and co-mingling of our peoples over decades and centuries means that there are no longer any ethnically or religiously homogeneous spaces in Nigeria. Our communities are diverse. They are host and home to people from all corners of the country. The composition of our community spaces a burden on leadership to promote peaceful coexistence, neutrality and tolerance. This task is as incumbent on traditional rulers in their domains as it is on elected leaders and on all chairs of government. Royal fathers have to be fathers of all in word and in deed. Our collective vision must be of an environment of peace where the righteous aspire and to actualize a supported irrespective of religion, gender or cultural identity. There is no place for exclusion or nativism. This understanding is at the heart of the consensus upon which we will anchor a peaceful and prosperous country. The Sadhana in his lifetime had grasped the imperatives that still face us today. As a prince of Sokoto and a seon of the traditional institution, he embodied the nexus between the ancient and the modern. He was a traditionalist with a strong, farsighted, modernizing instinct who understood that the key to the future lay in blending ancient values with progressive truths. As a premier of the then Northern region, he understood the necessity of inclusive governance in a plural environment. He was a servant leader, always on the ground amongst his people, a pragmatic unifier who stood for the principles that he held dear while respecting the diverse views of others. We must rediscover the bridge-building roles of our forebears and speak up for the values that have held us together thus far. We have the moral responsibility of raising a standard for our young people. This includes speaking up consistently for peace and justice and also listening patiently to their grievances. Our traditional institutions possess all the emotional channels that penetrate far deeper than the most sophisticated surveillance equipment can. They hear what the government does not hear. They see what the government does not see. They understand the language of the people's frustrations and they can provide valuable intelligence that can de-escalate potential problems before they have a chance to spark. We cannot afford to allow political experiences to taint the sanctity of our traditional institutions. So, reviving traditional institutions also requires that we build and rebuild the connecting tissues of trust between political leaders, traditional institutions, and the people. There's an entire world out there calling out the potential of young men and women not just in the north but all across Nigeria. And we owe it to them to see that they have ample opportunity to take their place in this modern world. We have the duty to remind them of the values that define us. The virtues of work, of faith, of tolerance, of brotherliness. We owe our young people a duty to prepare them for a competitive world through knowledge acquisition and moral development. To your Royal Majesty's here present and across the north, I thank you again for your contributions especially in tackling insecurity in the region and your enormous efforts at conflict resolution and peace building in your respective domains. Your patriotic roles will not be forgotten and your patriotic roles and all of what you have done and what you are still doing will not just be remembered by this administration or by this group of people but by generations to come. Once again, I thank the foundation for the very kind invitation to me and I thank you all very much for listening.