The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Most Revd. Matthew Hassan Kukah has downplayed animosity between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria, explaining that irresponsible leaders were the nation’s problems.
Kukah, who clocked 70 on August 31, made this known when he appeared as a guest on TVC’s News Breakfast show on Monday morning.
The cleric was responding to a question on the role religion and ethnicity play in Nigerian politics.
He said that these irresponsible leaders deploy religion as a tool to divide the people and make them easier to oppress.
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“There is no problem between Christians and Muslims. There is a problem between irresponsible leaders who don’t want to govern properly; irresponsible Christian religious leaders who have now seen religion as a tool of oppression instead of a tool for liberation.
“This has been the thrust of my argument because these are two areas of study. With all sense of modesty, I have spent a good part of my life studying theology and studying religion and society,” the cleric, who obtained a PhD from University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in 1990, said.
Kukah blamed governmental failure for the series of crises bedevilling the nation, noting that the Nigerian state must do more to take care of its citizens.
“If you are watching a football match or any game at all, that’s why there are referees. If the referee does not do what needs to be done and allows supporters to jump onto the field, you can see for yourself that referees are punishing coaches who overreach themselves by stepping even if it is just one inch, into the field. They are punished; sometimes they are taken off the pitch.
“Now, this is really what a state is supposed to be. Because without the state, it will be all of us against each other. And that is why the state is called a leviathan. You put so much power so that the state can protect us.
“The Nigerian state has proved itself to be incompetent, grossly malfunctioning, unable, and unwilling to commit the welfare of citizens as the principal basis of governance,” he said.
He explained that for true unity that engenders development, citizens must carry a ‘Nigeria land’ mentality, which presupposes the knowledge of shared interests.
Kukah further explained that Nigeria must work towards achieving a nation built on rule of law rather than religious or ethnic sentiments.
He noted that the role of religion must be scientifically defined to close the lacuna that political leaders exploit to prioritise one religion or ethnic group over others.