Kukah’s Divisive Utterances

In his characteristic style, the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Kukah, last week, accused the Northern Muslim elite of using religion to hold onto power to the detriment of their people and the larger society. He went on to criticise Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State over his handling of the bloody violence and destruction of property in Southern Kaduna in 2017, which resulted in the deaths of several people in that part of the state.

Whatever the Bishop has said may not be far from the truth, but the truth is that he is coming from a place he must not be seen as partisan in certain issues especially given the sensitivity of religion in the life of the nation. What anyone else would say and would not be accorded any seriousness for status sake, Kukah cannot get away with such.

It is for such reasons that as a religious leader, people like Bishop Kukah must be mindful of their utterances. They must not be seen as fanning the embers of discord or stoking the fire of crisis in the country. The situation in many parts of the country, let alone the north is so tense right now that it could further explode at the slightest provocation. Bishop Kukah’s latest vituperation is disturbing and could have been properly guided. He was too emotional, typically!

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