The Pacesetter Frontier Magazine

Tag: kukah

  • Presidency: Bishop Kukah’s utterances dividing Nigeria

    The Presidency, yesterday, knocked critics who have accused President Muhammadu Buhari of nepotism, poor leadership and graft.

    Particularly, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, in his Easter message, had lamented that the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government had destroyed Nigeria, impoverished and divided citizens along ethnic lines.

    But spokesman for the president, Mr. Femi Adesina, in a tweet, defended his boss saying: “Those who divided Nigeria with their mouths, with evil, unguarded speaking, are the ones now accusing President Buhari. How sad! Their wicked intentions shall not come to pass.”

    However, Nigerians have flayed Mr. Adesina. President of Middle Belt Forum, Dr. Pogu Bitrus, last night accused him of engaging in propaganda to earn his salary. He said what Kukah said was correct to the extent that for the first time, people have come to openly profess hatred for a particular tribe, a trend never witnessed in the contemporary history of the country.

    “Even the Hausa have come to hate the Fulani because of the actions of this government. Today, tribalism and nepotism have become the rule in appointments. So, what Kukah said is correct. We have never been as divided as we are today. Let the government’s spokesman continue with his propaganda. He has to say what he said to earn his salary, but the truth remains. We pray that within the remaining days of this government, the president will do the needful. We feel he still has an opportunity to mend fences and leave a country where all the people will see as their own, not one where people feel divided, marginalised and hate other tribes because of what is going on,” he said.

    President of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Yerima Shettima, said Kukah was not saying anything different from the realities faced by Nigerians owing to the failure of the President Buhari’s government. But he said the Catholic cleric cannot extricate himself from the ongoing crisis, having failed to raise the alarm before the 2015 election.

    He said government had not done well and called on Nigerians not to make the mistake of 2015 in 2023 because any attempt to do that would spell doom for the country. “What we should do is to sit down and reflect on how to forge ahead.”

    National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndibo, Chief Alex Ogbonnia, said government’s anger with Kukah was more about the person who said it and how it was said. “The economy is poor and there is no security. We are talking about people that were displaced from their homes, unknown gunmen, terrorists, Boko Haram, kidnappers, cost of living, epileptic nature of electricity, school that is not in session and general dilapidation of Nigeria, but we are saying that in all these, we have a team that can put things in order and that team is the Igbo. Igbo are creative, resourceful and with that tenacity, there will be a turnaround in Nigeria,” he said.

    Former president, Aka Ikenga, Chief Goddy Uwazurike, also berated Adesina for passing the buck by accusing Bishop Kukah of destroying Nigeria. He advised other Islamic and Christian cleric to join the Sokoto Catholic cleric to speak out against all the evils going on in the country.

    “Femi Adesina completely misunderstood the meaning of the sermon. Sermon means the ability to speak out to the congregation and that is what Kukah did…Kukah is not destroying anything; he is actually speaking out as a man of conscience, and any clergyman, whether of the Islamic or Christian conscience, who does not speak out about what is happening in Nigeria is a charlatan.”

    Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) also backed Bishop Kukah. In a statement by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, it said:“The respected Catholic bishop was on point when he said every aspect of our national life has been grossly broken since President Muhammadu Buhari came into office in May 2015. Everything he said cannot be further from the truth.

    “In all ramification, the president and his entire cabinet have failed in the government’s primary responsibility, which according to Section 14 (2)(b) of the Nigerian constitution, is: ‘The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government’.

    “Monthly, vicious insurgents, killer herdsmen, and gunmen slaughter hundreds of innocent Nigerians in Kaduna, Zamfara, Borno, Yobe, Plateau, Taraba, Imo, Enugu, Ebonyi, and other states. Sadly, these terrorists and enemies of the country walk freely, unarrested and unprosecuted by the Buhari regime while security agents pander around, sparing the killers while the president gives empty marching orders and unsympathetic condolence messages.”

     

    •Failed country

    Anglican Bishop of Nike Diocese, Enugu State, Rt. Rev. Christian Onyia, said it was right to refer to Nigeria as a failed state because the three basic things that keep a nation alive have collapsed. He listed those basic things as economy, education and security.

    Speaking at a pre-synod press conference of the diocese in his office, he said the situation needed not just prayers by Christians, but the faithful living out their Christian lives in a manner that challenges and corrects the anomalies in the country.

    “I say it and can go to any length to maintain that Nigeria as a nation has failed because the three basic things that make a nation survive have collapsed. Our economy has collapsed, our school system has collapsed and there is no security; these are the three things that make a nation either great or fail. Because our economy has failed, this morning as I was listening to news the president is asking for more borrowings, he wants to borrow more. You know Nigeria now lives on borrowed money and will continue to borrow… The Church has prayed and prayed, let’s stop deceiving ourselves, let’s wake up and act the prayer. That is why I have been mobilising our people here to go get their voters card because it is time. We’ve prayed enough, let’s now demonstrate it, let’s choose our leaders, those we feel will have at least the fear of God, who are ready to die.”

    (Sun)

  • Nigeria is Decomposing from within.

     

    THE Archbishop of Sokoto Catholic Diocese, Bishop Matthew Kukah, yesterday, declared that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration is not sincere in dealing with terrorists killing Nigerians.

     

    Wondering why it is difficult for the government to release names of sponsors of Boko Haram terrorists, the cleric declared that “Nigeria is decomposing from within.”

     

    Kukah spoke in a sermon at the Priestly Ordination of Five Deacons at the Holy Family Cathedral, wondering why the Buhari administration has refused to release names of Boko Haram sponsors.

     

    His words: “Nigeria is a broken country. It is decomposing from within. Our heart is broken and lives are hemorrhaging by the day. We cannot go on like this. The country and people have become so traumatised and sedated by horrible news, that have now become comfortable in ‘this swamp of evil’.

     

    “No number of horrific deaths, murders, sexual violence and kidnapping of children or adults can make us stop our life of debauchery.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.vanguardngr.com

  • Things are falling apart; the centre cannot hold – Tunde Bakare, Kukaht

     

    Kukah, in his message titled, “Nigeria: Before our glory departs”, obtained by The PUNCH in Abuja,  recalled that Buhari, on May 29, 2015, during his inauguration,  said, ‘Boko Haram is a typical case of small fires causing large fires.’

     

    The Catholic priest lamented that  before Buhar’s watch, “the fires are consuming the nation, and in many instances, they indeed start small.”

     

    Kukah also hit the Buhari regime for rehabilitating insurgents, saying it was a clear demonstration of the regime’s lack of feelings for victims of banditry and insurgency,  who were left to mourn their dead ones and paid ransoms to free their relatives.

     

    Kukah said the recent World Happiness Report stated that  Nigeria was one of the unhappiest nations in the world.

     

    He  said, “This is unacceptable but understandable. Our clay-footed fight against corruption has not moved the needle of transparency forward.

     

    “Of course, being the poverty capital of the world comes with its rewards such as banditry, violence, death, sorrow, blood, poverty, misery, and tears. Our cup of sorrow is permanently full; hence the exponential rise in the frustration curve across the country.

     

    “Sadly, human life is haemorrhaging so badly in Nigeria, but the greatest tragedy is the death of empathy from those in power. Mysteriously, the government is investing billions of naira in rehabilitating so-called Boko Haram repentant members and their other partners in crime in the belief that they want to turn a new leaf.

     

    “These criminals have waged war against their country, murdered thousands of citizens, destroyed infrastructure and rendered entire families permanently displaced and dislocated. Why should rehabilitating the perpetrators be more important than bringing succour to the victims?

     

     

    “When kidnapped or killed, victims and their families are left to their wits. They cry alone, bury their loved ones alone. And our government expects us to be patriotic? The victims of violence need empathy, which the dictionary defines as the ability to understand and share the feelings of the other.

     

    “A critical deficit of empathy on the side of the government makes healing almost impossible for the victims. We have not heard anything about a rehabilitation programme for the thousands of schoolchildren who have been victims of abduction. We seem to assume that their return to their schools is sufficient.

     

    “Left unaddressed, the traumatic effect of their horrors will haunt them for a long time. Tomorrow’s parents, military generals, top security men and women, governors, senators, and ministers will come from today’s pool of traumatised children. The security quandary is the greatest indictment of this government.

     

    “When governments face legitimacy crises, they fall back on serving the sour broth of propaganda, half-truths, and outright lies. They manufacture consent by creating imaginary enemies, setting citizens against one another by deploying religion, ethnicity, region, and other platforms while appealing to the base emotions of patriotism.”

     

    Kukah expressed disappointment that Buhari could not match his words with action, having boasted that during his inaugural speech to extinguish the fire of Boko Haram.

     

    He added, “The rumblings over the wearing of a hijab in Kwara State suggest that we have not seen the end of individuals sacrificing national cohesion to feed their personal ambitions by starting small fires.

     

    “Most politicians hardly think through the long-term effects of these pyrrhic victories of using religion. What started as a small fire with  adoption of Sharia in Zamfara in 1999, spread across the northern states. Ordinary people broke into ecstatic joy. Today, what has become of the North? What are the lessons?”

     

     

    Bakare, who was Buhari’s running mate in the 2011 presidential election, recalled how the President, who contested on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change, broke down in tears at a press conference because of his passion for Nigeria.

     

    He quoted Buhari to have said, “I have decided to dedicate the remainder of my life to fighting for the people of this country.”

     

    The cleric, who traced the history of the formation of the All Progressives Congress, said the situation in Nigeria was not the dream both he and Buhari had for the country.

     

    Nigeria, in a state of emergency – Bakare

     

    He stated, “I am compelled to speak out because this is not the Nigeria General Muhammadu Buhari and I had dreams to create when he invited me to be his running mate in 2011. I am compelled to speak out because the state of the nation does not represent the Buhari I knew when we took that solemn journey towards rebuilding Nigeria.

     

    “I am compelled to speak out at this point because, given the state of the nation, the legacy of President Muhammadu Buhari is in grave danger of being confined to an unsavoury side of history. I am indeed compelled to speak out because Nigeria is in a state of emergency.”

     

    According to him, in medicine, an emergency is defined as “an acute injury or illness that poses an immediate risk to a person’s life or long-term health, sometimes referred to as a situation risking ‘life or limb. For many years, Nigeria was in the intensive care unit of the universe.”

     

     

    Bakare stated that Nigeria was  in a critical state and that her survival was hanging in the balance, adding that she had been rushed to the emergency room.

     

    He said among others the aim of his address was to ensure that President “does not fall victim to what is historically described, especially in American politics, as the ‘second-term curse.’

     

    According to him,  political analysts describe the second-term curse as “the perceived tendency of second terms of US presidents to be less successful than their first terms.”

     

    Bakare recalled that when Shehu Shagari administration was overthrown in 1983, Buhari as a military head of state alleged that the civilian administration lacked  financial discipline and prudent management of the economy.

     

    He also said Buhari accused the Shagari administration of depending  “largely on internal and external borrowing to execute government projects with attendant domestic pressure and soaring external debts.”

     

    Situations in Nigeria reflect what Buhari accused Shagari of – Bakare

     

    Bakare said, “These excerpts of the December 31, 1983 speech by the then General Muhammadu Buhari told the unfortunate story of how the administration of President Shehu Shagari had succumbed to the so-called second-term curse. Some would even argue that, in an ironic turn of events, the reflections of General Muhammadu Buharionthe Shagari administration succinctly describe Nigeria’s current realities under the civilian administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.”

     

    Quoting words of Irish poet, W.B. Yeats,  popularised by the late Chinua Achebe, he stated, “Things are falling apart; the centre cannot hold; mere anarchy is loosed upon our land.”

     

    He said despite government’s claim of technically defeating Boko Haram, the insurgents were overrunning more villages and killing soldiers.

     

    He stated that  nearly seven years after 112  Chibok girls were kidnapped,  the girls and  Leah Sharibu, who was abducted in Dapchi, Yobe State in 2018, had not been rescued.

     

    Bakare noted, “The start-up kidnap industry has secured funding and has now scaled from Dapchi to Kankara and from Kagara to Jangebe and elsewhere.We have experienced the cycle of abduction of school children, alleged ransom payments sometimes in the hundreds of millions of naira, the release of the abducted school children, the denial by the government of any ransom payment, followed by the next cycle of abduction. Nigerians are then left wondering which school will be next.

     

    “If our schools degenerate into kidnap hotbeds on this administration’s watch, not even the school feeding programme can encourage over 10 million out-of-school children to enrol in a school.”

     

    “In fact, the number of out-of-school children can be expected to rise with the swelling ranks of pupils whose parents are scared to return them to their schools for fear of He said activities of were destabilising  farming, adding,  “Not even the President’s controversial shoot-on-sight order for illegal bearers of AK-47guns has proved sufficient to abate these attacks.”

     

    According to him, the massacre of dozens of rice farmers in Garin Kwashebe  in Borno State is a clear indicator of the limitation of window dressing in governance intervention.

     

     

    Bakare stated,  “It clearly reminded us that if farmlands remain unsafe for farmers, our brilliant agricultural intervention policies will suffer in the long run because they do not address the root problems.”

     

    Buhari  continuing with Jonathan’s opaque subsidy regime he promised to change, says Bakare

     

    He added that the regime was still battling with corruption issues including  the opaqueness of the fuel subsidy regime, which the Goodluck Jonathan administration was criticised for.

     

    The cleric advised the President to restructure the country before handing over in 2023.

     

    “The greatest demand on the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is to facilitate the emergence of legitimate regional governance frameworks that can fill the vacuum and flush out the illegitimate structures,” he said.

     

    Kukah did not speak like a man of God,  his message lacks fairness,   says Presidency

     

    The Presidency on Sunday responded to Kukah’s message, saying  the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese did not speak like a man of God.

    The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said this in a statement titled “Kukah’s Buhari bashing is ungodly.”

     

    Shehu said since Kukah professed to be a man of God , ideology should not stand in the way of facts and fairness.

     

    He said the bishop played politics in some of his submissions in the Easter message.

     

    The statement read, “All citizens have their individual ideologies, even their own versions of truth.

     

    “But if you profess to being a man of God, as Father Mathew Hassan Kukah does, ideology should not stand in the way of facts and fairness.

     

    “Father Kukah has said some things that are inexplicable in his Easter massage.

     

    “But, in saying that the Boko Haram terrorism is worse than it was in 2015, he did not speak like a man of God. Kukah should go to Borno or Adamawa to ask the citizens there the difference between 2014 and 2021.

     

     

    “Furthermore, the Hijab issue in Kwara State on which he dwelt is a state matter which the courts of the land have adjudicated. They are matters that have appeared in several states as far back as the Obasanjo administration. In all of that, when and where did the name of President Buhari feature? He is playing partisan politics by dragging the President into it.

     

    “An administration that has created a whole ministry, for the first time in the country’s history, appropriating enormous resources to it, to deal with issues of internally displaced persons cannot, in all rightfulness be accused of not caring for them.

     

    “Some of the comments are no more than a sample of the unrestrained rhetoric Fr. Kukah trades in, which he often does in the guise of a homily.

     

    We urge well-meaning citizens to continue to support the ongoing efforts by the administration to secure the country  and move it forward.”

     

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.punchng.com