Cerebral Nigerian Bishop, Matthew Hassan Kukah has once again condemned religiously motivated violence committed against Christians in Nigeria tracing its roots to “radical Islam,” and calling for international action to save vulnerable groups.
The cleric made the call recently during a keynote address delivered at the Religious Liberty Conference organized by the Notre Dame Law School and the Seymour Institute for Black Church and Policy Studies in the United States of America.
The public intellectual who shepherds a diocese which covers three states of Sokoto, Katsina and Zamfara where Sharia law was implemented on 27 Oct. 1999 by Governor Ahmed Sani Yerima and student Deborah Emmanuel was burnt alive on 12 May 2022 by her school mates for blasphemy claims told the international audience that “jihadism is the historical foundation of radical Islam.”
According to him, “Islam and the Jihadist tradition in Nigeria” has historical roots from “the jihad in Futa Jalon, guinea (Karamoko Alfa) 1725, Jihad in Futo Toro, Senegal (Sulaiman Bal) 1775,” to “Jihad in Sokoto, Nigeria (Dan Fodio) 1804 and Jihad in Western Sudan (Al-hajj Umar) 1852.”
On religious liberty, he disclosed that “radical Islam insists on theocracy” which makes “Muslims [to] insist on sharia law in the constitution” as evident in “1977, 1988 and1995 with state creation skewed in favour of the north putting much pressure on the democracy institution.
The prelate traced the history of religious liberty in Nigeria to “the beginning of caliphate and kingdoms” citing its impact on “Nigeria’s challenging political history” and “colonialism-military-democracy.”
He explained that from “independence [with] parliamentary system [and] 19 states, now 36, religious liberty in the new nation” took a different trajectory.
Tracing the roots of the problem to what he described as “Our prime minister is received in the white house” and “Our PM is time’s man of the year, [as at] Jan. 1961, the fiery cleric told the world that subsequence years would see the “military interregna [spanning] over 30 years.”
Kukah went down memory lane to underscore the role of religion in the West African nation by stating that while the “1958 Willink Commission [was established] to allay minority fears,” the country soon began to contend with “northern Muslims insisting on sharia law [and the] supremacy of Islam and northern Nigeria” over other parts of the country.
Using concrete examples, the Bishop recalled “the sharia debates, 1977, 1988, 1995,” despite the fact the “section 10 of the constitution” is explicit on the matter that there shall be “no state religion.”
As things are in the nation, “sponsorships of pilgrimages for churches and mosques [as well as huge] donations” are the in thing in a nation battling to survive insecurity, poverty, and the menace of out of school children.
The bold prelate insisted that “Muslims believe in a theocracy not a democracy” and only use “democracy – to deepen Islamic values” much to the chagrin of Christians and practitioners of African traditional religion.
He explained that the “Iranian revolution radicalised young northern Muslims” providing leverage for them for instance to install only Islamic signs in Kaduna metropolis.
The convener of The Kukah Centre and National Peace Committee disclosed that “violence emerged in 1987 and remains embedded” providing a leeway for “violence against Christians [which] gathers momentum” and manifests itself in “arbitrary triggers for violence [such that in] anything that angers Muslims, Christians are seen as part of Western hegemony.”
With reference to violence and martyrdom in northern Nigeria, the author of The Mustard Seed explained that wahabbism has a link with Hoko Haram and banditry.
These extreme positions often lead to “threats and erosion of religious liberty for Christians, abductions, kidnapping of Christian girls, denial of land places of worship [because Christianity is considered foreign], denial of Christian education in public schools, denial of places of worship in federal institutions, denial of employment opportunities in public service and enactment of hisbah and blasphemy laws,” said he.
Highlighting Christian response beyond religious liberty, the dialogue expert underlined limits and challenges of interreligious dialogue to include “weak state structure as a condition for violence, Christians seeking a martyrology list for martyrs of Nigeria, adoration grounds in Kaduna and Malumfashi, outreach for Muslims in the north, religious liberty as a human right to be enforced, setting up an National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) or a Christian lives matter movement and forcing government to compensate and end impunity.”
On “what can we do together,” he drew the attention of leaders around the world to Nigeria’s place in global affairs saying, “my efforts – testimony at congress (2021) and The Kukah Centre’s efforts in designing a voice for policy interventions” remain my modest contribution to changing the narrative.
While asking a rhetoric question if the current Muslim-Muslim ticket of the president and vice in the country is a consolidation of Muslim rule, he demanded that, “we need partnerships with your University (Notre Dame Law School and the Seymour Institute for Black Church and Policy Studies) in relevant areas, partnership with the black Church, having common projects in Nigeria (visits) and erecting platforms for fighting for religious liberty.”
News broke last week that Bishop Kukah won this year’s prestigious Mundo Negro Fraternity Award.
In a statement signed by Fr. Enrique Bayo Mata, a priest of the Comboni Missionaries and Director of the Madrid based Spanish Magazine, the organisers said, “Our eyes have been opened to the excellent work of the Kukah Centre founded by you.”
Fr. Mata clarified that, “Every year, the Magazine organises the Encounter with Africa during which the Award is given to a chosen African personality or institution that has been characterised by their contribution to the construction of a better world and a better African continent.”
On his part, the Director of The Kukah Centre, Abuja, Fr. Dr. Atta Barkindo stated that, “The Award, which carries a Ten Thousand Euros (EU 10, 000) cash reward will be formally presented to His Lordship in Madrid on February 3, 2024.”
According to him, “We at the Kukah Centre are humbled by this show of appreciation of the contributions of the Founder of our Centre. While we congratulate our Founder, Bishop Kukah, we sincerely thank the initiators of this Award.”
Barkindo expressed the centre’s commitment to the ideals exemplified by the fiery prelate who has a track record of impacting humanity as a social critic, global intellectual and voice of the voiceless.
“We promise that this Award will spur us all to work even harder in promoting the ideals that Bishop Kukah represents to make the world a better place through the activities of the Kukah Centre,” said he.
The accomplished author of the award-winning book, Religion, Politics and Power in Northern Nigeria and Witness to Justice: An Insider’s Account of Nigeria’s Truth Commission, studied at University of Bradford, United Kingdom where he obtained a Master in Peace Studies (1981).
The doctorate degree holder from London University (1990) bagged a master’s in public policy at the JF Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (2004).
Kukah was a Senior Rhodes Fellow at the Oxford University (St. Anthony’s College) between 2001 and 2003.
He served as a member of the Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission of the Federal Government of Nigeria from 1999 to 2002, Secretary of the National Political Reform Conference from February to July 2005, Chairman of the Ogoni-Shell Reconciliation by Federal Government in 2005 and was a member of the Electoral Reform Committee from 2007 to 2009.
