- Warns religious leaders against making inciting, provocative statements
The Federal Government has asked the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Mathew Kukah, to refrain from stoking the embers of hatred.
Picture caption: Lai Moh’d
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed who gave the caution in a statement issued yesterday, said a religious leader who has never supported President Muhammadu Buhari should not use disproved allegations against him.
While the minister did not mention the name of Kukah, it was clear that he was referring to the bishop, who sent a strongly worded letter to Buhari on Christmas day. Kukah had said there could have been a coup if a non-northern Muslim president tried a fraction of what Buhari did.
He also accused the president of institutionalising northern hegemony by “reducing others in public life to second-class status”. But responding, Mohammed said while religious leaders have a responsibility to speak truth to power, such truth must not come “wrapped in anger, hatred, disunity and religious disharmony”.
The minister said whatever challenges Nigeria may be going through at this moment can only be tackled when all leaders and indeed all Nigerians come together, not when some people “arrogantly” engage in name-calling and finger-pointing.
Picture caption: Bishop Kukah and President Buhari, when the going was good
Bishop Kukah is usually critical of President Buhari and his administration. In January 2020, the cleric accused the Federal Government of giving ‘tacit approval’ to insurgents, saying the use of explosives is the only difference between the government and Boko Haram insurgents. In February, he slammed the president for allegedly running a nepotistic government, adding that Nigeria is not worth dying for.
The Federal Government also, has urged religious leaders in the country to refrain from stoking the embers of hatred and disunity, warning that resorting to scorched-earth rhetoric at this time could trigger unintended consequences.
