Bishop Matthew H. Kukah
In Nigeria God is evoked to witness corruption and “outright larceny”, Bishop Matthew H. Kukah of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto has said. The cleric made this assertion while speaking at the convocation of Achievers University, Owo in Ondo state.
In his lecture entitled: “Some reasons why Nigeria has failed to achieve greatness”, the bishop said the rest of the world was making progress without evoking God.
Said Kukah: “We are over 90 percent Christians and Muslims in Nigeria, but there is nowhere in the world where religion has become an incubus, a burden and source of dreadful violence as it has in Nigeria. Our leaders are kneeling before pastors and imams seeking blessings, while the rest of the world is moving on, drawing inspiration from sweat, brains and brawn even without evoking God.
“We evoke God to witness to our corruption and outright larceny”.
Kukah cautioned the Federal Government against the planned regulation of social media, saying it could hinder freedom of speech, stressing that social media was an avenue for Nigerians to bare their minds and feelings about happenings in the country.
The bishop said he was ready to defend freedom of speech with the last drop of his blood.
Said he: “I’m worried that many in power don’t know the sacrifice[s] we made, the freedom we fought for”.
Kukah explained that what is holding Nigeria together is resources which he said were being used irresponsibly by those who run the country.
Said the cleric: “The main challenge is not of the boundaries of geography but the spread of ideas and knowledge and, of course, memory is a source of knowledge. We are angry, but we are not the first group to be angry”.
He urged the country’s leaders to invoke common emotions that could hold its citizens together as one.
