By Chinelo Obogo
The emergence of Bola Tinubu as the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Borno governor, Kashim Shettima, as his running mate, both Muslims, have been described as reprehensible and irresponsible.
Bishop of Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Mathew Kukah, who said this during a television interview, insisted that the action of the party in fielding a same faith ticket would set the country backwards.
He said the “crime scene” where this “problem” started was in 1984 when then military head of state, Muhammadu Buhari took Tunde Idiagbon, also a Muslim as his deputy. He however said Nigerians overlooked it because many were excited.
“As a Christian, I feel very proud of the role that we have played in managing diversity and managing politics in Nigeria. In 1983, when Buhari came in as head of state, he took Tunde Idiagbon as his deputy. Nigeria was very excited at the time but sadly, maybe, that is where we should have turned to as the scene of the crime. But it broke completely with tradition; the whole idea that two Muslims from the north would govern Nigeria. But Nigerians gave them that concession because it was a trade-off.
“Now, in 1993, Nigerians had gotten to a point that whatever was required to get the military out, we were going to do it. I think we over exaggerated our interpretation of what happened in 1993 because we always have this dubious assumption that this is evidence that Nigerians don’t care about religion. Maybe that was what was illustrated.
“But moving forward, the question I would ask my friends who are Muslims is this; would Muslims in northern Nigeria be ready to make the same concessions that Christians made in 1984, 1993 and are now being asked to make? You have to then understand it with the backdrop of what has happened in the last seven years. When you look at the squandered opportunities and the way power has been distributed and the way this government has allocated opportunities to the broad spectrum of Nigerians against the backdrop of the crises that we are in now. Ordinarily, the least we should be talking about now is whether our next president is going to be a Christian or a Muslim.
“As a Christian, I can tell you very frankly that the decision of the APC in choosing their candidates, i felt astonished. I can say without sounding arrogant that I know all the prominent presidential candidates that are out there. It is unfortunate that two illustrious people; Bola Tinubu and my friend Kashim Shettima would have to face this dilemma because it is not of their own making.
“But I think that the sheer insensitivity that brought us to this point speaks to the fact that those who manage our politics are not aware of the volatility that they have created in the system. I was secretary of the political reform conference and I remember the uproar about former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s third term bid. If we went through all this, why would we then come through the back door to repeat the same mistakes?” he said.