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Tag: Bishop Matthew Kukah

  • You’re Leaving Us Far More Vulnerable Than When You Came, Kukah Tells Buhari

    You’re Leaving Us Far More Vulnerable Than When You Came, Kukah Tells Buhari

    The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Hassan-Kukah has said that despite the many lofty promises of President Muhammadu Buhari, he is leaving Nigerians “far more vulnerable” than when he assumed office on May 29, 2015.

    The fiery cleric also said he has no doubt that the health of the President had improved in the last seven-and-a-half years but wished millions of Nigerians enjoy a fraction of Buhari’s enhanced health through access to better healthcare services in the country.

    The septuagenarian preacher stated this in his 2022 Christmas Message titled, ‘Nigeria: Let Us Turn A New Page’ and made available to Channels Television by the Director, Social Communications of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Rev. Fr Christopher Omotosho.

    “Mr. President Sir, a merry Christmas to you and your entire family. I speak for myself and Nigerians when I say, we thank God that He mercifully restored you to good health. We know that you are healthier now than you were before. We can see it in the spring in your steps, the thousands of miles you have continued to cover as you travel abroad. May God give you more years of good health.

    “However, I also wish that millions of our citizens had a chance to enjoy just a fraction of your own health by a measurable improvement in the quality of health care in our country.

    “It is sad that despite your lofty promises, you are leaving us far more vulnerable than when you came, that the corruption we thought would be fought has become a leviathan and sadly, a consequence of a government marked by nepotism.

    “In my Christmas Message last year, I pointed out the fact that you had breached the Constitution by your failure to honour and adhere to the federal character provisions of our Constitution. The evidence is all before us all,” Kukah said.

    He, however, commended the President for the efforts made in the area of infrastructure and in seeking to end malfeasance in the electoral processes. “Am I to believe that you knew and could do nothing about the Muslim-Muslim ticket within your Party?” Kukah quickly interjected. “Still, we pray for a free, fair and credible election.”

    A New Strategy
    Kukah lamented abducted “children still in the forests, in the hands of evil men” and urged Nigerians to be “vigilant” and called for a change of strategy on the part of the masses to dethrone arrogant men and women in power who are determined to make Nigeria a jungle.

    “This is the last Christmas for this present government’s administration. Let us all do our duty as we have a chance to choose new leaders. Do not be cynical. God is not done with us. Choose leaders who, in your view will love us, will care for us, will cry with us, will laugh with us. Look ahead and do not look back,” he said.

    “Although the responses to my messages suggest that, generally, Nigerians listen to our voices in the wilderness. However, the deliberate culture of pauperization and destitution of our people continues. So, we need a change of strategy so that we can turn a new page. We need a new strategy to confront those who sit on the throne of power in arrogance and are determined to reduce our country to a jungle.

    “We need a new strategy that separates men and women of honour from those who have chosen dishonour. We need a new strategy that provides a clearer moral guide for ordinary citizens who, based on the moral strength of culture and religion, are seeking to build a good society, even if with straws. We need to stand up and stand firm. We need new mechanisms for saying no to the violence of governance.”

    ‘A Dubious Jihadist Culture’
    Kukah said it is sad that despite his many alerts, a dubious jihadist culture has held down Nigeria and the Federal Government now simply looks away.

    “Before our eyes, the capital letters that spelt Nigeria are falling to the pressures and irruptive forces of primal ethno-religious nationalisms. Before our eyes, a dubious jihadist culture has held our nation to ransom with the government simply looking away.”

    ‘Glory Has Departed’
    He said though the President’s men have accused him of attacking their principal or speaking for the Christians in the north, “none of my critics has quarreled with my facts”.

    “If they accuse me of stating inconvenient facts/truths, then, they can at least give the facts their interpretations. For example, who will quarrel with the fact that our glory has departed as a country? Where is our voice respected today even within the African continent which looks up to us for leadership?

    “Is being the poverty capital of the world and one of the most violent states in the world an achievement? And our suffocating internal and international debts? And you do not think our glory has departed?” he quizzed.

    ‘Nepotism Is A Cancer’
    To the political class, Kukah said every Nigerian knows that promises before elections are sweet, but actions after elections are often bitter.

    “I plead with you to co-operate and collaborate with institutions which are tasked with the responsibilities for these elections…Do not further fan the embers of hatred and divisions. Seek to create a vision that can unite our country,” he advised, even as he cautioned them to manage Nigeria’s diversity for power sharing, nepotism is a cancer which has consumed the country in the last few years.

    “We have paid the price of nepotism entrusting power into the hands of mediocres who operate as a cult and see power purely as an extension of the family heirloom.”

    Kukah said Nigeria has become a tale of two cities with wars between the rich and the poor and “fixing our country and getting it back requires courage, honesty, truth, humility, trust and firm commitment”.

    He appealed to all Nigerians who have been given custody of public trust and commonwealth to rise up to the duties for which they have been so handsomely rewarded.

  • 2023: Politicians struggling for national cake, don’t die for them – Bishop Kukah

    2023: Politicians struggling for national cake, don’t die for them – Bishop Kukah

    Matthew Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, has advised supporters of politicians not to kill themselves while demonstrating support for their candidates.

    Kukah stated that opposition politicians are friends fighting for their piece of the national cake and as such shouldn’t be taken too seriously.

    Kukah disclosed this on Tuesday while fielding questions on the Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme

    He said, “These politicians are struggling and they’ve lived their lives struggling for the national cake which they will distribute amongst themselves. It is therefore in the interest of ordinary Nigerians to know that they have to vote to stay alive.”

    Kukah also said that enthusiasts of politicians “must understand that these politicians know themselves” regardless of their grandstanding and posturing.

    While advising supporters of political candidates to be a bit more restrained and wise, the cleric urged people to figure out how to manage their passion when it comes to politics, adding that people should not take seriously the grandstanding of the politicians.

  • We’ll accompany Bishop Kukah to DSS – Christian youths

    We’ll accompany Bishop Kukah to DSS – Christian youths

    The Christian Association of Nigeria (Youth Wing) says they will mobilise to join Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese in appearing before the Department of State Services, DSS.

    Belusochukwu Enwere, the President of YOWICAN, in a statement on Sunday, titled “We will mobilise Christian youths across the country to answer DSS invitation of Bishop Kukah”, noted that Bishop Kukah was invited by the DSS for his comments on the state of the nation slamming.

    The statement suggested to the DSS that the popular Islamic cleric, Ahmad Gumi, should be invited for questioning for what the youths called “fraternising with bandits”.

    According to the statement, Bishop Kukah committed no offence.

    It said the government should channel her energy in the fight to liberate the country from terrorists and bandits.

    It regretted that recently, more than 200 people were killed in Zamfara State and villagers displaced.

    The statement added, “The DSS has extended her invitation to us, not Bishop Kukah, and we will honour it. The DSS should first invite Ahmad Gumi for questioning for interfacing with bandits.”

    The youths said that controversial Islamic cleric, Ahmad Gumi had advised people in the terrorised North-West of Nigeria on how they can live in peace with the armed bandits occupying their forests.

    YOWICAN quoted Gumi as saying that people could develop mutual relationship with the bandits without being harmed.

    The group lamented that Sheikh Gumi had been fraternising with the bandits and he had been working freely without any invitation from the DSS or police.

    “The DSS has invited Bishop Matthew Kukah for questioning, days after the prominent Catholic priest ramped up his criticism of President Muhammadu Buhari for failing to curb nationwide insecurity,” the statement noted.

  • Gov Ortom Upbraids Presidency Over Negative Comments on Kukah’s Address to US Congress

    Gov Ortom Upbraids Presidency Over Negative Comments on Kukah’s Address to US Congress

    By Isaac Kertyo, Makurdi

    Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has disclosed that the approach the Presidency has adopted in engaging Nigerians on issues would aggravate the myriad of challenges bedeviling the country.

    Ortom who lampooned the Presidency for making inflammatory comments over Rev Matthew Hassan Kukah’s address to United States Congress on Foreign Affairs during the weekend, argued that Bishop Kukah is not the first Nigerian to address Foreign audience regarding security situation in Nigeria.

    He noted that in 2015 President Muhammadu Buhari was the candidate of the All Progressives Congress when he delivered a speech in London where he disclosed that Boko Haram has put Nigeria on the terrorists map killing more than 13,000 of the country’s Nationals.

    The Governor pointed out that if the man seeking to govern the country could give such statistics why would his aides now launch media attack on a clergyman who is drawing the attention of the global community to the pligt of helpless Nigerians.

    Ortom urged the Presidency to listen to the voices of the citizens and resist the temptation of silencing those who have genuine love for the country and are contributing for the peace and Unity of the nation.

    He contended that the presidency may not be aware that Nigerians are facing harsh economic conditions and many are being killed by bandits, Herdsmen and other terrorists groups because those saddled with the responsibility of telling it the truth have refused to do so.

  • Bishop Matthew Kukah Writes Sardauna Of Sokoto

    An Open Letter To Alhaji Sir Ahmadu Bello, The Sardauna Of Sokoto

    By Bishop Matthew I Hassan Kukah.

    I am not sure I know how to address you especially now that the formal Ranka ya dade is of no use to you since you are now in eternity. However, because this is a very special year, I had decided to write two letters, one to you and the other to Sir Tafawa Balewa. I thought I should start with you for obvious reasons. These letters are my formal way of having an imaginary conversation with both of you. In a way, I want to give you a report of what you left behind, what your immediate successors have done with your investment and how they shared our inheritance to the descendants.

    In a way, I feel like a grand child reporting his uncle to his grand father, so please be patient with me. I think this is necessary because if we continue this way, I am sure your memories will be a distant whisper in the ears of your great grand children. What is more, your name is now a mere meal ticket for many. I also fear that some of the values you lived and died for are heading into oblivion. Apart from your autobiography, it took a white scholar and lover of northern Nigeria, Professor John Paden to write your authoritative biography. One would think that by now, those who claim your name would have endowed a Chair of Sardauna Studies in one of the northern Universities. But they are preoccupied with other more important pursuits it seems.

    A second reason for this letter is the fact that I am now a citizen of your home state of Sokoto where I now serve as the Bishop of the Catholic community. You will be glad to know that Sokoto is still a very peaceful place to live in. From the point of view of progress and development, I am afraid that you will probably not get lost in many of the towns and communities. I have visited Rabah where you were born and I have also seen your house here in Sokoto. It is impossible for me to believe but it reminds me of the modesty of one of my heroes and your contemporary, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania whose personal house sits in a street corner in Dar es Salaam. Since there are no Christians or Muslims in the presence of God, I am sure both of you might have met.

    For us, growing up as children in my little and very remote village, Sokoto registered in our memories only because your great stature served as a beckon that pulled the city nearer to us. Yet, looking back, how could I have imagined that I would not only visit Sokoto, but also become a citizen of this state? I deliberately drove to Rabah just to have a feel of where you grew up and where your father had served as a District Head.

    Fifty years have gone past since you and your brave wife were brutally murdered in cold blood. Perhaps, had she merely pleaded or run into hiding, even her murderers would probably have thought otherwise. However, in a rare combination of the deeper instincts of genuine love, passion and total commitment, she gave herself in defense of what she loved most when it mattered most. In that warm embrace into which you both clung, with she serving as a shield, you were both dispatched into eternity in one moment. I hope both of you are happy in paradise now.

    I was old enough to have known you, but I did not ever get the opportunity to even see you. Like millions of other young children and teenagers across Northern Nigeria, we heard about you and only had images of you in our minds. So much myth was built around you and Mallam Aminu Kano. For our young minds, your name elicited awe but that of Aminu Kano excited us. We fell in love with Aminu Kano’s name rather quickly because even early in life, we had always lived in fear of the Native Authority people as the ugly face of the oppression of taxation. We recall how much sorrow their visits often left behind especially in the homes of some of our poorer uncles in the villages when they came to collect their haraji. When we heard that Aminu Kano was against haraji, we loved him because haraji threatened our school fees.

    Your place in history is assured, but there are still areas of controversies about your legacy. We have heard and read that you were a man who loved the north and its people, irrespective of their religion. The praise singers have left us plaudits, paens, myths and apocryphal material about your greatness. This is not the place to debate your actions. You laid a foundation to ensure that none of your children faced an uncertain future. Today however, many of your children have become orphans because the region has become a huge orphanage.

    Our children fill the streets begging for food, their elder brothers who have some education have no jobs and nowhere to turn to, their parents have no work and those who have worked are dying with no pension. Farming has become a hazardous preoccupation. You will weep if you see where we are now. Selfishness has consumed us and the army has deserted the battlefield because there is no one to lead them. There is neither direction nor destination and most people have lost the will to fight for any cause.

    At a time when there was no technology and no structures, you developed them from scratch. You built such institutions as the Ahmadu Bello University, Institute of Administration, Kaduna Polytechnic, Colleges of Education, Government Secondary Schools, etc. You set up the Northern Nigerian Development Corporation, Northern Nigeria Investment Limited, Ahmadu Bello Stadium, Broadcasting Corporation of Nigeria, New Nigerian Newspapers, Textiles Factories such as Kaduna Textile Mills, Zamfara Textiles, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria, Northern Oil Processing Mill, Sword Branch Bottling Company, Nigerian Breweries Ltd, Hamdala Hotel, Kano Ground nut pyramids, Central Hotel, Bank of the North, Northern Nigeria Radio Corporation and many others etc.

    With this legacy, should every son and daughter of northern Nigeria not walk like a prince or princess? Yet, today, all these institutions have been killed and buried by your successors who refused to develop a professional style of managing these great institutions. They were seen as extensions of a feudal system and today, rather than administer them, your successors presided over their funerals. What is left now are their carcasses.

    Today, we look back at all the ideals that guided you. Despite its shortcomings, you were determined to ensure that the North did not lag behind. To do this, you undertook to navigate a very difficult and treacherous terrain without a clear compass. You tried to wield together a medley of peoples with conflicting and challenging histories, cultures, aspirations and so on. To make it worse, the people did not as yet possess such weapons for the construction of a modern state as technology and education. Yet, your programme of Yaki Da Jahilci helped many poor farmers gain some levels of literacy.

    The north is in turmoil now and the reasons are many. The turmoil is the result of the sickness that afflicted the nation after you and other great nationalists were brutally murdered. We gradually slid into a civil war. We now have 36 States and the old north now has 19 States. You will be pleased to know that almost all the Governors were born around the time of your death. They are therefore young and promising. Please pray for them so that they can extricate themselves from retrogressive mistakes of their fathers and create a more open society where everyone can have a sense of belonging. Unlike their fathers and uncles, they have University education and they have studied and worked in a more plural environment. Indeed, our Governor in Sokoto was born just a few days before you died and he was the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives with the help and support of Southerners. This is different from your time when the relationships were more combative and rather acrimonious. You will be surprise to note that those you referred to as the scallywags in Lagos, those who booed at you in the wake of the debate over self government in 1956 were largely responsible for garnering support for General Buhari, a son of Daura who is now our President. So, please, pray for us to have more open and tolerant society.

    Your heart must be bleeding at the sight of what has become of the north today. Boko Haram, a criminal band of murderers took hold of the north and turned it into a wasteland. Thousands of lives have been lost and today, millions of our people are in refugee camps. Thousands of innocent women, women and children have lost their lives. A great swath of the north is now a refugee camp of desolation and pain. Thousands of our girls have been killed, raped and forced into marriages. Over two hundred young girls in a village called Chibok have been in captivity and their fates are unknown. It is over 600 days now and we have no news. Northerners are merely looking up at the federal government and refusing to take full charge of what is clearly and mostly our battle or the result of our negligence and disunity.

    When you look back now, I believe even you will realize that your controversial Conversion campaigns laid the foundation for mistrust in the house that you had built earlier. Since then, there has been increasing distrust among our people and the chasm has grown even deeper. We have spilled so much blood around the north, you will be shocked to see how many unmarked graves there are.

    Finally, I must let you get some rest, but let me give you a little gist. Your grand son, Hassan, is the Magajin Garin Sokoto now. I am not sure he can play Fives as you did because he looks bigger than you. You will be proud of him. Also, the little brilliant boy who got As in his School Certificate examinations from Kabba and whom you gave a scholarship to ended up not in the northern civil service but he became a priest. You will be proud to know that he is now a Cardinal of the Catholic Church and could be Pope!

    Please tell the Prime Minister to be patient because his own letter will come next week. For now, again, please pray for us. Ask God to rekindle the spirit of foresight and deep love for people that He endowed you and other men of your generation with. Give my warm regards to Col. Pam and my mama, his wife, Elizabeth and all those great men and women who lost their lives with you. Tell her to please look for Justice Oputa.

  • Muslim Solidarity Forum threatens Bishop Kukah

    Muslim Solidarity Forum threatens Bishop Kukah

    There was a new twist to the lingering crisis between Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese Matthew Kukah and the Muslim Solidarity Forum (MSF), on Tuesday as the Islamic group warned the cleric to “quickly and quietly leave” Sokoto, the seat of the caliphate.

    MSF said Kukah’s “innuendos and parables” in his speeches were against Islam and its adherents, adding that they were provocative.

    The threat by the forum came barely 24 hours after Kukah accused the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), the umbrella body of Muslim groups, of inciting violence against him over the Christmas message


    The cleric, according to reports had in the message accused the Muhammadu Buhari administration of not living up to expectation due to mounting economic and security challenges confronting the nation.

    He said Buhari was “institutionalising northern hegemony against national interests,” adding that if a President of non-Northern extraction had done a fraction of that, he would have been removed from office via coup de tat.

    The cleric, who later said he was misquoted in the portion of the message about coup, maintained that that “he is more interested in how religion can be used to foster unity.”

    His words: “The Secretary-General has accused me of being an enemy of his religion, Islam. He accused me of what he calls, firing an arrow at the heart of Islam and Muslims in Nigeria. He says I have been accorded respect and accommodated in Sokoto and I have turned around to bite a finger that has fed me.

    “He poses a question: How can Muslims continue to be hospitable to one who proves to be an ingrate many times over? How can Muslims be comfortable in associating with a bitterly vindictive person disguised in the garb of a religious cleric?

    “I can only take this statement from the secretary-general of JNI as a clear case of incitement to violence against me.”

    But at a news conference in Sokoto, Sokoto State, the MSF aligned with JNI, accusing Kukah of not only unable to “appreciate in his Muslim hosts or their religion,” but disparaging them with “provocative and uncouth language..”

    Acting Chairman of the forum, Prof. Isah Maishanu, described Kukah’s comments as an attempt to break the age-long peaceful coexistence between the predominantly Muslim population and their Christian.

    Although Maishanu said the MSF was not holding brief for the President, he urged the Catholic mission to stop Kukah’s “malicious vituperations” against Islam and Muslims.

    He alleged that the cleric’s comments signified a deeply-rooted and blind pathological hatred for Islam.

    To buttress the group’s belief that the Bishop disliked Islam, Maishanu alleged that Kukah opposed Shari’ah law’s implementation in some Northern states claimed that Christians were being denied places of worship and protested in the heart of Sokoto over the killing of a Christian priest.

    His words: “Kukah who lives peacefully and happily at the centre of the seat of the caliphate for almost a decade now, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere of the city that is founded on the teachings of Islam and benefitting from the goodwill of Muslim leaders right from childhood and up to this moment could not see anything good to appreciate in his Muslim hosts or their religion, to disparage them.

    “Rather, he is always using provocative and uncouth language. His callous statements and acts of hatred is unbecoming of someone who parades himself a secretary to the National Peace Committee and a member of Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC).

    “We therefore call on Kukah to immediately stop his malicious vituperations against Islam and Muslims and tender an unreserved apology to the Muslim ummah or else, quickly and quietly leave the seat of the Caliphate, as he is trying t break the age-long peaceful coexistence between the predominantly Muslim population and their Christian guests.”

    Maishanu noted that Muslim leaders out of magnanimity, shown goodwill to the bishop, adding that he was taking their kindness for granted.“ To Kukah, the Acting MSF chairman said: “ We call on him to act as Bible commands’ seek ye truth and it shall set you free’, by embracing the pristine monotheistic teachings of Jesus, son of Maryas, finally revealed by Allah the Almighty Lord, through the last Prophet ,Muhammad.”

    However, efforts to reach the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar to comment on the stand of the forum did not yield result as he was said to be away.

    Also, the state JNI leadership could not be reached on phone. The Sultan heads the JNI.

    Efforts to speak with the General-Secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Joseph Daramola, were also futile as he neither picked his call nor replied text messages.

  • Funeral: Bishop Kukah Eulogises Mother

    Funeral: Bishop Kukah Eulogises Mother

    The Bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Rev. Father Mathew Kukah, has described his mother, Janet Kukah, as kind-hearted, prayerful and generous.

    The bishop eulogised his mother who died at the age of 86, describing her as generous and with out ethno-religious biases, at her funeral service on Friday, at St Mathew Catholic Church at Achuna, Sarkin Ikulu community in Zango Kataf Local Government Area.

    “My Mother was extraordinarily generous, she gives gifts to people.

    “When I send her a bag of rice, it does not last a week because she gives it out.

    “There was a time she distributed food shortly after a crisis and people cautioned her for giving Muslim women food but she said ‘hunger has no religion,” he said.

    He said his mother was a quintessential politician who in spite of her lack of education was able to analyse and envisage the likely performance of political candidates.

    He thanked the clergy, political and traditional leaders for attending the burial, saying her death was a celebration of life because she made her way right with God before her demise.

    Speaking at the event, the chairman of the Governors Forum of Nigeria, Gov. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, prayed for God to have mercy on the soul of the deceased.

    The chairman represented by the chariman of the Northern Governors Forum and governor of Plateau, Simon Lalong, described the deceased as contributing to humanity both local and internationally through her children.

    Lalong said the government and people of Plateau prayed for her soul to rest in peace, adding that her son Kukah has always encouraged him in his political career.

    Earlier in his address of welcome, the community leader of the area, Agwam Ajulu, Mr Yohanna Kukah, described the deceased as a composer of many songs in the Ikulu dialect.

    He lauded her commitment in women fellowship in the community and impacting of lives through welfare packages, saying her legacy would be recorded in the annals of the community.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the former chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission , Nuhu Ribadu, former Speaker House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, chairman and President, Southern Kaduna People’s Union, Jonathan Asake, were among the dignitaries that attended the ceremony.(NAN)