“Unbroken evolution of uniform conditions pleased every one – except curates and bishops; it was the very best substitute for religion; a safe, conservative practical, thoroughly common-law diety. ” – Henry Adam
Most Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah, no doubt is an enigma; a pathfinder of sort, who for more than three decades has remained the open conscience of Nigeria’s troubling nationhood. Praise singing is unfitting to craft a tribute to his stellar persona. Rather, a deconstruction and interrogation of his many trades and expeditions will be more welcoming and receptive. From his days as a Roman Catholic priest finding his pathway in the newly created Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja, to his role as the Secretary General and Administrative Head of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN), then headquartered in Lagos, Kukah both on the pulpit and secular Nigeria set out to rev up our national conversation from an equal prism of social thought and ecclesiastical philosophy.
His speeches often inundated by Middle Belt menthol; blended by latin and toughened by the rough edges of Efdom – Zango Kataf invokes both his rustic life and his advanced life of letters. A mixed bag where local wisdom meets and intersects with modernity. He is captivating, as much as he’s dignifying. Kukah’s understanding of the Nigerian nation, its history, the socio-political dynamics of its multiculturalness is legendary. And places him even at par with a national orator.
Beyond his oratory skills, it is the very salient and no-holds-barred issues that Kukah brings to the front burner in our national discourse that have created a niche for him. His interrogation of Nigeria’s fault lines; where ethnicity and religion are weaponized for political endgame situate Kukah as a daring shepherd unperturbed by the orgy of ethno-religious politics, vis-a-vis persecution. It is in Kukah’s fearlessness and unnerved gusto in tackling Nigerian wasteful and ravaging ruling elite that has contributed in elevating the Catholic Bishop as a colossus within the Nigerian discursive space.
Of a fact, this writer has met with a lot of Bishops, Cardinals; from Timothy Dolan of New York; George Stack of Cardiff then, to Papal Nuncios , among many others. Kukah adds to the chain of intellectual Catholicism exemplified by Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger). Still, Kukah comes as a global figure, combining philosophy, theology, politico-religious scholarship and intellectual grounding in a broader context that defines him as a pace setter in many respects. His intellectual craving, unlike some other Nigerian intellectuals, is supported by profound and testable scholarship and knowledge production that will remain timeless in the annals of history.
His works over time, since he published, Religion, Politics and Power in Northern Nigeria (1993) has provided the guide post for sane national discourse. This was followed by Religious Militancy and Self-Assertion: Islam and Politics in Nigeria (1996); Democracy and Civil Society in Nigeria (1999), Witness to Justice: An Insider’s Account of Nigeria’s Truth Commission, The Church and the Politics of Social Responsibility (2011) down to Broken Truth: Nigeria’s Elusive Quest for National Cohesion (2022), there is a consciousness to interrogate the Nigerian crisis beyond the periphery. A move to go beyond the surface and seek practical answers about what ails Nigeria? How can Nigeria work for us all as an egalitarian society? Kukah seems to post a chequered and unresolved puzzle. In all, truth is Kukah’s armour, just as his mitre and crozier. James V. Schall, a Jesuit Priest and Georgetown University scholar, in his book, Roman Catholic Political Philosophy (2004) stressed that there are no pathways to avoid truth, either from theology, religion, politics and philosophy; truth is central to our being and a magnificent signpost.
In Broken Truth…, a prelude to his 70th birthday, Kukah sets to deconstruct the question of national cohesion and the many obstacles to nation-state. In the book, Kukah’s invocation of contemporary themes such as construction of national identity and the illumination of our Africanness is top notch. He argued for a more mundane narrative of Nigeria’s greatness as opposed to the sordid tales of ‘cultural suicide’. Kukah is also unsparing of historians who are wont to bend the clock of history in distorting the role of British colonialism in Nigeria and Africa’s political culture. He is bold enough to wrestle Prof Ali Mazrui about the debate on the intertwining relationship between colonialism and Christianity. The book is as historical, as it’s contemporary, packed with Nigeria’s launchpad to a supposed Eldorado.
Born on 31st August, 1952 in Zango Kataf, Kaduna State, he was educated at St Fidelis Primary School, Zango, St Joseph Minor Seminary, Zaria, and later read Philosophy and Theology at St Augustine Major Seminary, Jos Plateau State. Kukah also holds a Bachelor of Divinity from the Pontifical Urban University, Rome, Italy; a master’s degree in Peace Studies, University of Bradford. He will later cap his education with a PhD degree from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. Kukah has also had various scholarship and fellowship programs at Oxford University; the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, United States among other prestigious institutions of learning.
Overall, Kukah is a shining light to both the nation and the church; a moral compass and a common-law deity as Henry Adam posited. His contribution to nationhood from his role as member of the Human Rights Violations Commission (Justice Oputa Panel), National Political Reform Committee, National Peace Committee, to his interventionist role in Ogoni land and Niger-Delta clean environmental up, Kukah demonstrates a personality that is unimpeachable in so many ways. As vox populi – voice of the people, and in many dimensions, Kukah nudges Nigeria to democracy, freedom, social justice and a united Nigeria, devoid of the vagaries of politico-religious fundamentalism. Feliź Cumpleaños Vox Populi, Vox Pastoris the Great Shepherd!
Paul Obi, Abuja
