The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Mathew Kukah, has warned that the 2023 general elections will not be free, fair, or credible unless those at the helm of affairs were able to create a sense of common citizenship among Nigerians.
Bishop Kukah said he was concerned that the Nigerian population had been polarised, with most of the electorate deeply divided along ethnic and religious lines.
Speaking at a national discourse organised to mark the 60th birthday of the Executive Director of the Policy and Legal Advocacy Center, PLAC, Clement Nwankwo, Bishop Kukah maintained that the dysfunctional system of governance in the country and the failure of the State to fulfill its obligations to citizens were responsible for the polarisation.
He said: This is what the failure of the state to live up to its obligation with the citizens has brought us to. So, when we are talking about citizenship participation in democracy, what exactly are we talking about because everything is still in the State of formation?
I agree that the first thing to do is to look at what are really the obstacles to our developing a sense of citizenship, because the first thing all of us must agree on is that we still find the words of Awolowo being used to validate a sense of the fact that we are not Nigerians.
Awolowo said Nigeria is a mere geographical expression. He said we were first Yorubas before we became Nigerians. The truth of the matter is that countries live by the quality of myth they have constructed.
If you dont have a means of identity to who you are, not necessarily because you can explain these things anthropologically, but you must have something that holds you together beyond the Constitution.
In her remarks at the event, a former member of the House of Representatives, Ms. Nnenna Ukeje, said it was unfortunate that only money bags could afford to contest elections in the country.
She noted that so far, most people that had been able to afford the exorbitant prices pegged for the purchase of nomination forms were those currently occupying government offices.
What is happening is not a joke. The future of our country depends on what we do. It is our responsibility to challenge everything that is going wrong in our society and work to bring about a society that will work for all of us, she added.
