Easter Message: Bishop Kukah bemoans mirage of nation’s woes

From Tunde Omolehin, Sokoto

In his Easter message to the congregation in Sokoto on Sunday titled ‘Nigeria: Before our glory departs,’ the Catholic Bishop emphasised that the security quandary is the greatest indictment of the present government.

He recalled how President Muhammadu Buhari in his inuagural speech described Boko Haram as a typical case of small fires causing large fires, but watch, the fires are consuming the nation, and in many instances, they indeed start small.

“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.

“We forget the reality that without truth, the throne of power often turns into a cage, and the occupant is turned into a prisoner. In reality, the truth needs neither a judge nor a witness. The truth is its own judge and witness. Without the truth, as the old song says, all else is sinking sand!

The Clergy described as

unacceptable but understandable the recent World Happiness Report, that placed Nigeria as one of the unhappiest nations in the world.

“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 hemorrhaging 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.

He noted that such criminals have waged war against their country, murdered thousands of citizens, destroyed infrastructure and rendered entire families permanently displaced and dislocated, still the government of the day are rehabilitating the perpetrator rather 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?

Speaking further: Kukah noted how critical deficit of empathy on the side of the government makes healing of violence victims almost impossible.

“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.

“There is a time for everything under the sun (Eccl. 3:1). Perhaps, we can paraphrase this by saying there is a time for war and a time for peace. There is a time for poverty and a time for wealth. There is a time for stealing and a time for returning what has been stolen. There is a time for politics and a time for governance.

“There is a time for tethering to the brink of chaos and a time for recovering the soul of a nation. There is a time for the collapse of morality and a time for moral recovery. There is a time for leadership and a time for statesmanship.

“There is a time for losing greatness and a time for achieving greatness. Nigeria must now ask itself: What is left of our glory? Where are the values that held us together?

“On our national Coat of Arms, we profess our motto to be: Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress. But let us ask ourselves: Is Nigeria united today? Do citizens still have faith in the country? Where are the signs of peace or progress?

“Today, before our very eyes, these words have been emptied of their flavour and have lost their resonance and capacity to summon our citizens to patriotism. St Augustine once said: Remove justice, and what are kingdoms but gangs of criminals on a large scale? He further said that: A gang is a group of men (and women) under the command of a leader, bound by a compact of association, in which the plunder is divided according to an agreed convention.

“This is the fate of our nation today. Day by day, Nigeria drifts irreversibly into a dark tunnel. Things are falling apart with unnerving rapidity because those who govern have only a pact to protect their interests. Politics is merely its conveyor belt of ambition. Nigeria has a date with destiny. If we do not turn around, The axe is already laid to the roots of the tree (Mt. 3:10).

“With some chance, we might pull through this, but it is getting tougher each passing day. Does anyone remember where we started and how we got here?

On May 29, 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari, at his byswearing-in-in as President of Nigeria, said: Boko Haram is a typical case of small fires causing large fires.

“Now, before his watch, the fires are consuming the nation, and in many instances, they indeed start small. 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 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?

The Bishop urged Nigerians to join hands together and remain stretched out in supplication. He also urged the Christian faiths to trust in God and not go on revenge.