By Salim Yunusa
The Presidency has described Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Most Revd Matthew Kukah, as a disappointment for saying President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government has failed to tackle insecurity as it promised before taking over power in 2015.
Kukah had stated this during a virtual presentation to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in Washington, DC, on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria by armed extremist groups in the North, last Wednesday.
A statement by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said it was troubling for Kukah to copy the worst excesses of those seeking personal advancement in public office.
The Presidency also accused the cleric of sowing discord and strife among Nigerians.
It said it is quite disturbing that Kukah suggested that investment in infrastructure between Nigeria and Niger is wasteful and biased, when a similar infrastructure project between Lagos and Benin Republic has revolutionised relationship between the two neighbouring economies to the advantage.
“It is unfortunate, and disappointing, for citizens of Nigeria to bear witness to one of their Churchmen castigating their country in front of representatives of a foreign parliament. We are all too familiar with these overseas political tours that opposition politicians take – visiting foreign leaders and legislators in the United States, United Kingdom and Europe. So, the argument goes, if they are heard seriously abroad, then Nigerian citizens back home should surely listen to them too.
“But in order to be heard at all, and to maximise media coverage back home for their activities, inevitably these visits involve painting the worst possible picture of our country before their chosen foreign audience.
“Soon enough we inescapably hear an identical list of racist tropes against northerners, how one religion dominates governance above all others, how the government is doing nothing to address herder-farmer disturbances, and how the government spends money on infrastructure to benefit everyone but the group and religion of the speaker. Of course, in order not to disappoint their western audience, regardless of fact, the list is always the same and always slanted for whoever wishes to cross-check.
“Nigerians expect this from their unimaginative opposition – but it is troubling when a so-called man of the Church copies the worst excesses of those seeking personal advancement in public office.
“Only this government has put forward the first and singular plan in nearly a century to address herder-farmer challenges – a fact recognised by international NGOs, including the International Crisis Group. To declare to a foreign audience that this government does nothing is an incredible falsehood.
“There is no bias in this government when the president is northern and Muslim, the vice president southern and Christian, and the cabinet equally balanced between the two religions. But neither is there anything in our Constitution to state that political posts must be apportioned according to ethnicity or faith. It takes a warped frame of mind for a critic to believe ethnicity is of primary importance in public appointments. It is yet more troubling to hear a Churchman isolating one group for criticism purely on ethnic lines.
“With due respect to the esteemed position he holds, the Bishop’s assertion that only Christian schools are being targeted by bandits or terrorists is not supported by the facts on the ground. It is sad to say, but also true that victims of crime, kidnapping, banditry and terrorism cut across all strata of the society. Sad but true that Kankara students in Katsina State were stolen by bandits of the same Islamic faith as those they took away.
