From Rose Ejembi, Makurdi, John Adams, Minna, Noah Ebije, Kaduna
The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto State, Most Rev Mathew Kukah, has continued to garner more comments for his Christmas day comment which has been raising dust over the past days.
Kukah had in his Christmas Day sermon lamented the worsening insecurity situation in the country, blaming President Buhari for poor management of the situation. He added that if a non-Muslim northern was in the saddle, there could probably have led to a military coup to oust him.
In its latest reaction, Tiv socio-cultural organisation Mdzough U Tiv (MUT) advised all Nigerians to see the truth in Bishop Kukah’s Christmas message instead of casting aspersions on him and calling for his head.
The organisation in a statement signed by its president-general, CP Iorbee Ihagh (retd.), while stressing that Kukah didn’t call for a coup as being interpreted in some quarters, submitted that President Muhammadu Buhari had poorly managed Nigerians diversity and caused more divisions in the polity.
Similarly, a chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and former Commissioner for Information, Culture, and Tourism in Niger State, Mr. Jonathan Vatsa, advised the Federal Government and the Arewa youths to leave the clergyman alone and address the issues he raised on the state of the nation.
Vatsa said it was unfortunate that some “political contractors” were picking holes in what he said which in actual fact was “the truth and sincere assessments of the present situation in the country,” adding that “the country is worst than it was six years ago.”
At the same time, the Bishop of Kaduna Diocese, Anglican Communion, Timothy Yahaya, said that the recent verbal attacks by some Nigerians on Kukah over his outburst against insecurity in the country were indications that the country was becoming a laughing stock among the comity of nations.
Bishop Yahaya said if a personality like Bishop Kukah spoke truth to power and some Nigerians decided to ridicule him out of sentiments.
According him, rather than attacking Kukah, President Buhari should see the message as a wake-up call and do the needful by first re-jigging the security architecture and allowing for the convocation of a national conference where all ethnic groups will come together and frankly discuss the way forward for the nation.
He maintained that what Bishop Kukah said in his Christmas message was a true reflection of happenings in the country, urging the Federal Government to take deliberate steps to strengthen the unity, peace, and security of the country.
He disowned a youth organisation Tiv Youth Council which had taken a swipe at Bishop Kukah, insisting that the only youth group known to the people is the Tiv Youth Organisation (TYO) being led by Timothy Hembaor.
At the same time, Vatsa who is the Coordinator on Public Affairs to Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger State in a statement in Minna title “when shall we accept the truth,” pointed out that all the issues raised by Kukah “are the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”
He believed that the division among Nigerians today was more visible than the one that led to civil war in the country, warning that “every right-thinking human being knows that the country is drifting towards anarchy with the current situation.”
Vatsa, a former publicity secretary of the APC in Niger State lamented that rather than looking at Kukah’s assessment of the situation in the country and trying to proffer solutions to them, the Federal Government and its “paid contractors” were picking holes and politicising “this genuine and sincere observations.”