Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Kukah, has fired back at the presidency, which had slammed him over his criticism of the policies of President Muhammadu Buhari, saying that Aisha, the wife of the President also agrees with what he said about her husband.
Kukah made this known in an interview on Arise TV on Tuesday morning.
The Bishop while echoing his points said that he has nothing personal against the president but he his policies which Aisha also disagrees with.
According to The Punch, Kukah said, “All those saying I attacked the president, I have never attacked his person. All I have spoken about is his inability to manage diversities effectively and efficiently. I have studied diversity as a subject and I know what I am talking about.
“Those who think these things are personal would see that I have never talked about his person or character; I believe he is a gentleman but as far as being the president is concerned, he has done a bad job, even his wife has also disagreed with his policies.
“So, those guys should not sit in their air-conditioned office drinking coffee and think everything is honky-donkey. Let them disagree with the text of my message.”
According to him, he has great respect for the president and his person who he considers a gentleman but when he accesses him as a president, he has failed woefully in the delivery of his job.
He said, “Let me set the record straight, I delivered my sermon to my congregation and the message. The bearers of the message are directed primarily to the good people of Sokoto dioceses.
“The president knows that I have great respect for him and he is a gentleman, but he has done a terribly bad job as the president of Nigeria.
“There is nothing I am saying that is new, all the pastors who preached yesterday during the Easter service said the same thing. Tell me one thing about the message that I preached that you disagree with and let’s discuss.”
Kukah who affirmed that he speaks directly with the president said that his criticism of the government is nothing personal but the zeal to see things get better in the country.
He added, “For a Muslim (Garba Shehu) to sit down and tell me what an Easter message should contain is something.
“Buhari himself knows that there is nothing personal in what I say. One thing the president has said that humbled me is that he told me ‘Bishop Kukah, I know where you stand on any issue that has to do with Nigeria.’
“What connected me with Buhari and a lot of Muslims is not the catholic church, it is my public position on a lot of things. And I am not saying it so that you must agree with me. But Nigerians have been extraordinarily magnanimous because I have not had many people saying we disagree with you and I have not spoken because I know the issue. The primary beneficiary of what I say is me and I speak for myself. If you have any issues with me, let’s clarify the issue.”
The Presidency had on Monday took a swipe at Kukah for his continuous criticism of President Buhari and his administration, asking him (Kukah) to consider joining partisan politics and see how far he can go.
The President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, had made the Presidency’s position known in a statement titled ‘Kukah’s virus of hate.’
Shehu’s statement was the second time the presidency would be slamming Kukah in 24 hours following his criticism of the Buhari administration over the worrisome state of the nation.
Specifically, Kukah, in his Easter message had heavily criticised President Buhari over insecurity, corruption and division along ethnic fault lines in Nigeria, saying President Buhari has destroyed every aspect of life in Nigeria but has allowed corruption to thrive and grow.
Also, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, had said critics of President Buhari are responsible for the division in Nigeria and not the President’s ruling style. According to the media aide, the critics caused division in the country with their mouths.
Shehu was reacting to Kukah’s Easter sermon on Sunday in which he knocked Buhari’s regime over security challenges, corruption and disunity being witnessed in the country.
Quoting different biblical passages, the presidential spokesman faulted the bishop, saying “from his pulpit, he devoted his Easter message not to Christ’s death and rebirth so Man might be saved – but to damning the government in the most un-Christian terms.”
While accusing Kukah of neglecting Bible’s teachings, Shehu said Easter should be a time for renewal, and for hope and “not a time for religious leaders to play politics, or politicians to play religion.”
He added, “Nigeria knows too well Bishop Kukah’s views of the government. He has made quite clear how much he dislikes them from the day they were elected.
“Whether expressing his political views is a good use or an abuse of religious office is for others to decide. But the people of Nigeria have spoken – twice: they support this government at the ballot box. They have not been swayed by hateful talk from any bully-pulpit.
“We respectfully ask Bishop Kukah to leave government to the voters and the politicians they elect, while he concentrates on his job, as it is expressed in James 1:27: ‘Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.’
“Or else, he should put away his clerical garb, join partisan politics and see how far he can go.”
Buhari’s Critics Responsible For Division In Nigeria, Adesina Replies Kukah
Adesina, had said critics of President Buhari are responsible for the division in Nigeria and not the President’s ruling style. According to the media aide, the critics caused division in the country with their mouths.
Adesina’s reaction came a day after the Kukah, heavily criticised Buhari over insecurity, corruption and division in Nigeria.
Kukah, in his Easter message titled ‘To mend a broken nation: The Easter metaphor, had said every aspect of life in the country has been destroyed, while corruption is enthroned.
“With everything literally broken down, our country has become one big emergency national hospital with full occupancy. Our individual hearts are broken. Our family dreams are broken. Homes are broken. Churches, mosques and infrastructure are broken.
“Our educational system is broken. Our children’s lives and future are broken. Our politics is broken. Our economy is broken. Our energy system is broken. Our security system is broken. Our roads and rails are broken. Only corruption is alive and well,” the message read in part.”
Adesina took to his Twitter page yesterday to respond to the criticism of his principal. He said it was surprising that those who are guilty of creating division with mouths in Nigeria are the ones accusing the President of the same crime they committed.
Adesina wrote: “Those who divided Nigeria with their mouths, with evil, unguarded speaking, are the ones now accusing President Buhari. How sad! Their wicked intentions shall not come to pass.”
Adesina had similarly upbraided the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) for asking President Buhari to resign last week for failing to provide security in the country.
He had labeled the Northern elders as “self-seeking individuals who had hoped to get the better of the administration after President Buhari’s electoral victory in 2015.
“The forum is largely made up of angry, bitter, self-seeking individuals, who had thought they would be leading President Buhari by the nose when he emerged in 2015. In fact, key personalities in the group made strenuous efforts to be part of the administration. When they didn’t succeed, they became adversaries.”
Kukah, in his Easter message had heavily criticised President Buhari over insecurity, corruption and division along ethnic fault lines in Nigeria, saying President Buhari has destroyed every aspect of life in Nigeria but has allowed corruption to thrive and grow.
The cleric had said: “Our dear country, Nigeria, still totters and wobbles as we screech towards a dangerous and avoidable canyon of dry bones.
“With everything literally broken down, our country has become one big emergency national hospital with full occupancy.
“Our individual hearts are broken. Our family dreams are broken. Homes are broken. Churches, mosques, infrastructure are broken. Our educational system is broken. Our children’s lives and future are broken. Our politics is broken. Our economy is broken. Our energy system is broken. Our security system is broken. Our roads and rails are broken. Only corruption is alive and well.”
Kukah is known for his courage in speaking truth to power. In his unsparing Christmas homily of December 2020, he had accused President Buhari of promoting northern hegemony, saying that there could have been a coup, if a non-northern Muslim president had done a fraction of what Buhari was doing.
Last year’s Easter, he delivered a blistering condemnation of the Buhari administration, saying the government had failed and turned the country into a massive killing field.
This year’s message appears to be even strident as the respected cleric lampooned the President. He said: “Nigerians can no longer recognise their country, which has been battered and buffeted by men and women from the dark womb of time. It is no longer necessary to ask how we got here. The real challenge is how to find the slippery rungs on the ladder of ascent so we can climb out. Yet, we ask, ascend to where?
“One would be tempted to ask, what is there to say about our tragic situation today that has not been said? Who is there to speak that has not spoken? Like the friends of Job, we stare at an imponderable tragedy as the nation unravels from all sides.
“The government has slid into hibernation mode. It is hard to know whether the problem is that those in power do not hear, see, feel, know, or just don’t care. Either way, from this crossroads, we must make a choice, to go forward, turn left or right or return home. None of these choices are easy, yet, guided by the light of the risen Christ, we can reclaim our country from its impending slide to anarchy.
“The greatest challenge now is how to begin a process of reconstructing our nation, hoping that we can hang on and survive the 2023 elections. The real challenge before us now is to look beyond politics and face the challenge of forming character and faith in our country. Here, leaders of religion, Christianity and Islam, need to truthfully face the role of religion in the survival of our country. The Nigerian Constitution has very clearly delineated the fine boundaries between religion and politics. Yet many politicians continue to behave as if they are presiding over both the political and the spiritual realms in their states rather than governing in a democracy.”
He called on all religious leaders in Nigeria to urgently come to the country’s rescue. “Religious leaders must face the reality that here in Nigeria and elsewhere around the world, millions of people are leaving Christianity and Islam.
“While we are busy building walls of division with the blocks of prejudice, our members are becoming atheists but we prefer to pretend that we do not see this. We cannot pretend not to hear the footsteps of our faithful who are marching away into atheism and secularism. No threats can stop this, but dialogue can open our hearts,” he said.
Nigeria reportedly witnessed its deadliest week in 2022 last week as armed non-state actors killed at least 215 people in various attacks. This implies that an average of 30 people were killed daily by armed persons in the country last week.
More than half of the victims, 142, were killed in Plateau State by gunmen. Apart from Plateau, other states that witnessed mass killings include Kaduna (26) and Benue (23).
The figure for last week indicates a sharp increase when compared to the previous week when at least 25 people were killed. Also, at least 2,968 people have been killed in the first three months of 2022.
