New Telegraph

Kukah: A cleric without borders

Bishop Matthew Kukah has endlessly spoken truth to power unlike some clerics who choose to ferment prejudice. However, his recent intervention on the state of the nation, which according to him, was spurred by love for Nigeria has pitted him against the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government. FELIX NWANERI reports

The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah is a man of many parts. He is not just an average cleric; he is an erudite scholar and social crusader. He has to his credit several published works, comprising of books and articles.

He is also the media’s delight. Perhaps, his uncompromising stand on national issues, explains the critical assignments he has been part of in the past. Among such national assignments include serving as Secretary to the National Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission, popularly referred to as Oputa Panel; National Political Reforms Conference; Ogoni/Shell Mediation Initiative and the Electoral Reform Committee.

Kukah’s contributions to the work of these committees caused many to express the fear that the nation would lose his services, when he was elevated to the position of a bishop in 2011. General Muhammadu Buhari (now president) captured the sentiment in his congratulatory message to the cleric at that time. He expressed the fear that the cleric would no longer be available for public engagements. But Kukah allayed his fears, saying: “No need to fear, General.

The Church has only given us a bigger platform. As long as injustice and hunger stalk this land, we shall continue with the struggle. We shall go to where the Lord sends us. Since God is everywhere, I shall consider myself a bishop without borders.” The cleric has not wavered on this promise as he has continued to contribute to national discourse despite his busy schedule. The role played by the National Peace Committee on 2015 elections convened by the Kukah Centre for Faith and Leadership Research, and which he was a member, comes handy.

The committee led by a former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, ensured full compliance with the Abuja Peace Accord signed by the key contenders in the presidential election – then President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Buhari of All Progressives Congress (APC).

Members of the committee were business mogul, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; former Chief of General Staff, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe; then Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan; Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Sa’ad Abubakar; then Primate of Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh ; then President of Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor; Justice Rose Ukeje and Alhaji Muhammad Musdafa.

Others were former Nigerian Ambassador to the United Nations, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari (now Chief of Staff to the President); another former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Chairman of the 2014 National Conference, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi; Prof. Ameze Guobadia, Prof. Zainab Alkali, Publisher of Vanguard Newspapers, Mr. Sam Pemu-Amuka and a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, (NBA), Dame Priscilla Kuye. It was kudos for the Peace Committee over its role during the elections and ensuring that Jonathan accepted the outcome of the poll against the wishes of some of his aides, thereby saving the country from crisis.

However, the group did not go to sleep after the 2015 polls. It had shortly after Buhari was inaugurated as president, criticized his administration’s move to probe the Jonathan-led administration.

The group met with Buhari and appealed to him to focus more on governance rather than the probe of his predecessor. Kukah, who serves as the group’s spokesman, explained that the committee believed that while it was clear that no Nigerian supports corruption, the concern was that that since the country is no longer under military rule, every accused person should be presumed innocent until found guilty by competent courts.

No doubt, the admonition was not out of place given the belief then that there was much work to do by the Buhari administration, but some people argued that there was no way Kukah and members of his group would not be accused of advancing an ulterior motive given the shocking revelations on the activities of the Jonathan government. However, Bishop Kukah, came out to dismiss the claim that the Peace Committee’s meeting with the President was at the behest of his predecessor.

He also reiterated the committee’s position that Buhari should concentrate more on governance than probe. “We want to see a qualitative and quantitative change in the lives of Nigerians. Nobody knows how Buhari’s presidency will end; nobody knows what will happen to him when he completes his tenure.

The stick that they are using to whip Jonathan may be the stick that they will use to whip Buhari tomorrow,” he explained. As expected, the Peace Committee’s counsel did not go down well with the APC.

The party, not only urged Kukah to keep his counsel, but noted that his advice was as a plot to blackmail the Buhari government for trying to prosecute those who destroyed the nation’s economy. Consequently, the party warned leaders of the group not to interface for those who looted the national treasury irrespective of party or tribe, as nothing but the total recovery of funds looted by officials of the former government would be acceptable to all patriotic Nigerians.

The warning prompted many to express the fear at the time that Kukah would be cowed by the APC administration, but that has not been. Rather, the cleric remains outspoken as ever and has continued to speak truth to power.

For instance, the cleric, at a time raised the fear that the behaviour and attitude of President Buhari were causing tension and anxiety in the country. “I am not speaking because I am a Christian but because I am a Nigerian, some appointments made by the president are lopsided; even some northern elites are not happy with some of his decisions,” he said.

The height of his several homilies on the state of the nation was on February 11, 2020, during the burial of an 18-year-old seminarian, Michael Nnadi, who was kidnapped at Good Shepherd Major Seminary in Kaduna State by armed men and later found dead. Kukah did not only accuse Buhari of “relegating national interest to the background,” but said the President has “brought nepotism and clannishness” into the military and the ancillary security agencies.

His words: “No one could have imagined that in winning the presidency, General Buhari would bring nepotism and clannishness into the military and the ancillary security agencies, that his government would be marked by supremacist and divisive policies that would push our country to the brink.

This President displayed the greatest degree of insensitivity in managing our country’s rich diversity”, Kukah recalled that Buhari was first elected president in 2015 on the basis of his promise to restore security in the country, but decried that this did not happen. This, according to him, has pitched the President not only against Nigerian, but particularly his own people.

“Despite running the most nepotistic and narcissistic government in known history, the North still has the worst indices of poverty, insecurity, stunting, squalor and destitution. His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto and the Emir of Kano are the two most powerful traditional and moral leaders in Islam today. None of them is happy and they have said so loud and clear. “Traditional leaders from the North, who in 2015 believed that General Buhari had come to redeem the region, have now turned against the President.

The impression created now is that to hold a key and strategic position in Nigeria today, it is more important to be a northern Muslim than a Nigerian.” Kukah did not stop at that. He gave a damning verdict on the APC-led Buhari administration by saying that Nigeria is at a crossroads and its future hung precariously in the balance. “Ournationislikeashipstrandedon the high seas, rudderless and with brokennavigationalaids.

Today, our yearsof hypocrisy, duplicity, fabricated integrity, false piety, empty morality, fraud, and Pharisaism have caught up with us. Nigeria is at a crossroads and its future hangs precariously in the balance.

This is a wake-up call for us,” he averred. While it has always been repudiation from the presidency each time Kukah faults Buhari’s leadership style, the outspoken cleric used his recent Christmas message to further slam the APC administration. In a speech entitled “A nation in search of vindication,” Kukah railed at what he described as Buhari’s unparalleled nepotism and policy of northern hegemony, while reducing other parts of the country to second class status. He said there could have been a coup or war in the country if a non-Northern Muslim President had practiced a fraction of President Buhari’s nepotism.

His words: “Against the backdrop of our endless woes, ours has become a nation wrapped in desolation. The prospects of a failed state stare us in the face: endless bloodletting, a collapsing economy, social anomie, domestic and community violence, kidnappings, armed robberies etc. Ours has become a house of horror with fear stalking our homes, highways, cities, hamlets and entire communities.

The middle grounds of optimism have continued to shift and many genuinely ask, what have we done to the gods? Does Nigeria have a future? Where can we find hope? Like the Psalmist, we ask; from where shall come our help? “As our country drifts almost rudderless, we seem like people travelling without maps, without destination and with neither captain nor crew. Citizens have nowhere to turn to. After he assumed power, a delegation of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference had audience with President Buhari. In the course of our discussion, thePresidentsharedwithus his frustration overthe state of decayand rut that he had met.

“In frustration, I vividly recalled him saying that, from the decay and neglect, it seemed as if preceding governments had been doing nothing but just eating andgoingtothetoilet! Lookingback, one might conclude that those were happy times because at least there was food to eat and people could go to the toilet. Now, a journey to the toilet is considered by the poor an extra luxury. Our country’s inability to feed itself is one of the most dangerous signs of state failure and a trigger to violence.

“President Buhari deliberately sacrificed the dreams of those who voted for him to what seemed like a programme to stratify and institutionalise northern hegemony by reducing others in public life to second class status. He has pursued this self-defeating and alienating policy at the expense of greater national cohesion.

Every honest Nigerian knows that there is no way any non-Northern Muslim President could have done a fraction of what President Buhari has done by his nepotism and gotten away with it. There would have been a military coup a long time ago or we would have been at war.

The President may have concluded that Christians will do nothing and will live with these actions. He may be right and we Christians cannot feel sorry that we have no pool of violence to draw from or threaten our country. However, God does not sleep. We can see from the inexplicable dilemma of his North.”

The Federal Government responded to Kukah’s message by faulting his use of the Christmas, which according to it, is a season of peace to stoke the embers of hatred, sectarian strife and national disunity.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who spoke on behalf of the government, said while religious leaders have a responsibility to speak truth to power; such truth must not come wrapped in anger, hatred, disunity and religious disharmony. He added that it was particularly graceless and impious for Kukah to use the Christmas to stoke the embers of hatred and national disunity.

His words: “Calling for a violent overthrow of a democratically elected government, no matter how disguised such a call is, and casting a particular religion as violent is not what any religious leader should engage in, and certainly not in a season of peace.”

The minister added that instigating regime change outside the ballot box is not only unconstitutional but also an open call to anarchy,” noting that “while some religious leaders, being human, may not be able to disguise their national leadership preference, they should refrain from stigmatizing the leader they have never supported anyway, using wellworn and disproved allegations of nepotism or whatever.”

The minister maintained whatever challenges Nigeria may be going through at this moment can only be tackled when all leaders and indeed all Nigerians come together, not when some people arrogantly engage in name-calling and finger-pointing.

Kukah, who disclaimed government’s claim that he called for a coup, urged Nigerians to get the accurate statement rather than relying on lies being peddled about in his name. According to him, the message was based on his love for the country and had no political or ulterior motive.

“It is sad that when you drop something in Nigeria, everybody goes back totheir enclaveandabandonsthelarger picture. Iam someonewhonevertakes offence or what people say about me. What I said was my opinion based on evidenceand whathashappened inNigeria and if you look into the records, there ares evidence that justify that statement, and if anyone thinks I am wrong, they should come out with superior position.

It is unfair for a journalist ornewsmediumtoreportthatIcallfora coup while I am expressing my personal view about Nigeria,” he said. He described those calling on him to drop his priesthood cassock and join the political fray as being ignorant of elementary politics and ignorant of the role of a priest.

“The truth is that a lot of us have not seen a priest saying what I am saying. The truth of the matter is, we are all in politics, but party politics for me; no. I am not a member of any political party and I cannot be; if it comes to voting, I do my right. I have no problem with Muslims, Christians or any other religion, but what I don’t like is when someone is using religious issue to play politics, it is wrong.”

The varrying positions of the Federal Government and the Catholic Bishop, notwithstanding, his Christmas message and government’s response have been trailed by mixed reactions. While many are of the view that the cleric spoke the minds of most Nigerians, others said his position was informed by his aversion for the APC administration.

No doubt, the varying views were mainly informed by political and religious divides, but they have rekindled the debate on the contentious issue of religion and politics in a country, where faith carries an enormous weight.

The question most political observers have asked against this backdrop is: Should religious leaders play active role in politics or refrain from stepping into the political sphere? While this question has defied a definite answer over the years, there is a political school that argues that if other citizens could enjoy political expression, such should not be denied of religious leaders.

Members of this political school insist that clerics should equally be entitled to political comments. According to those who hold this view, politics is not superior to religion, so if dabbling into affairs of the state is going to make a difference for the people, religious leaders should influence it smartly.

They further argued that religion being the driving force of politics all over the world; to separate the two maybe the most difficult task. However, there is another political school that believes that religious leaders should not dabble into politics on the conviction that doing such runs contrary their teachings. To members of this political school, the Church/Mosque and the government are two separate offices and should not be joined.

The fear of this school is the danger of allowing politicians to smuggle religion into politics. It was argued that the interest of the country and its people would be better served if religious leaders ensure that religion is taken away from politics and by ensuring that politicians do not drag politics into religion. There is another belief that separation of religion and state affairs does not mean that those who are religious cannot vote or exercise their right to free speech.

This conviction, perhaps, explains the interest of religious clerics across the various faiths in the electoral process although such has re-echoed the contentious issue of religion and politics in a society, where faith carries an enormous weight.

But, unlike in the past, when indifference was the word for religious leaders over politics, a number of them are getting involved and are even running for elective offices, while many have opted to mobilize the faithful for active participation in the electoral process. For instance, some prominent clerics have contested for political offices in the past. They include the founder of the House of God International Ministry, PastorChrisOkotie, whoranforthe presidency in 2019 on the platform of Fresh Democratic Party (FDP).

On the other hand, those who have taken it upon themselves to sensitize the people on the need get involved, include the Archbishop Emeritus, Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Okogie; Catholic Archbishop of Owerri Ecclesiastical Province, Most Rev. Anthony Obinna, Founder and Presiding Bishop of the Living Faith Church Worldwide (aka Winners’ Chapel), Bishop David Oyedepo as well as Bishop Kukah. Others are Kaduna-based Islamic scholar, Sheik Abubakar Gumi; Archbishop of Enugu Ecclesiastical Province (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma; General Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare; Senior Pastor; Spiritual Director, Adoration Ministry, Enugu, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka and General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministries International and Apostle Johnson Suleman, among others. For these clerics, Nigerians must insist on visionary leadership, which is the principal element that ensures government serves as a vehicle for the attainment of the socio-economic aspirations of the citizens.

However, members of the political class usually misconstrue their position to mean endorsement. But a legal practitioner, Bonny Obi, who spoke on the issue, said: “Religion should be a vehicle to fight for the poor masses and down trodden.

So, whether anyone agrees or not, religion was, and is still the driving force for politics all over the world. To separate them may be the most difficult task.” Findings by New Telegraph also justified Obi’s submission.

For instance, the considerable political influence by Muslim clerics in countries like Iran; political dominance of the Hindu Nationalist Party in India despite the fact that the country is a secular state and the pressure by the Philippines Catholic Church leaders on their government to abolish the death penalty, point to the fact the religion cannot be separated from state affairs.

Read Previous

2020: 1,865 injured, 224 die from disasters in Lagos

Read Next

Wood burning stoves increase lung cancer risks

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *