The Christmas Day message of Matthew Kukah has continued to generate more ripples among different Nigerians, forcing some to take side and others to issue threats.
Kukah who is the Bishop of Sokoto Catholic Diocese had accused Buhari of institutionalising “Northern hegemony by reducing others in public life to second-class status,” alleging that there would have been a coup if a non-northern Muslim president does a fraction of what Buhari has done.
This is as Christian Association of Nigeria has accused Federal Government and Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) of twisting Kukahs’ message.
Reacting to the message, Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture, urged religious leaders in the country to refrain from using the occasion of Christmas to stoke up hatred and disunity, by criticising the President Muhammadu Buhari administration on their alter.
I, a statement on Saturday through his spokesperson, Segun Adeyemi, the minister warned that resorting to scorched-earth rhetoric like that of Mr Kukah could trigger unintended consequences.
He 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.”
According to the minister, it is particularly graceless and impious for any religious leader to use the period of Christmas, which is a season of peace, to stoke the embers of hatred, sectarian strife and national disunity.
”Calling for a violent overthrow of a democratically-elected government, no matter how disguised such a call is, and casting a particular religion as violent is not what any religious leader should engage in, and certainly not in a season of peace,” Mr Mohammed said, adding that instigating regime change outside the ballot box is not only unconstitutional but also an open call to anarchy.
Also, the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of the Bishop Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah, over his Christmas day message.
The Arewa Youths Consultative forum described Kukah’s statement as unguarded and open incitement to military coup and insurrection against the democratically elected government.
In a statement signed and released by its National President, Yerima Shettima, the group called on the Federal Government to place Bishop Kukah on a special watch list for this open attempt to “set the South against the North in order to destabilize our country and further complicate matters.”
The statement in part reads “Such a reckless statement by Kukah betrays something much more sinister against both the North and the nation as a whole because Nigeria is at a stage that it requires responsible advice for attaining peace and stability, not deliberate attempt to mischievously compound our problems.
If Kukah wants to play politics, he should not do so in the pulpit and he should keep the Bishop’s office aside and choose any Nigerian political party platform to contest for President in 2023 and stop all the pretences”
The group then reminded the cleric of the rough road tread by democracy heroes to rid the nation of military dictatorship at a time when he was nowhere in sight.
“We will not allow opportunists who did make any contribution to scuttle the democracy achieved through our sweat and toil and the sacrifice of our liberty,” the statement read
But, Senator Dino Melaye Senator Dino Melaye has warned against the arrest or embarrassment of Sokoto-based clergyman, Bishop Kukah, over his Christmas day message.
The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum has since called for the arrest and prosecution of Bishop Kukah over his message.
Dino took to his Twitter handle to react to the call.
”Arrest or try to embarrass Bishop Kukah and we will prove to you that Government is not owned by you but the people. They want to scare everybody. Ko jooooo. Kill fear and speak the truth to power,”he tweeted
In the message, Bishop Kukah said there would have been a coup if a non-northern Muslim president practiced nepotism like Buhari.
Dino took to his Twitter handle to react to the call.
”Arrest or try to embarrass Bishop Kukah and we will prove to you that Government is not owned by you but the people. They want to scare everybody. Ko jooooo. Kill fear and speak the truth to power,”he tweeted.
Bishop of Sokoto Catholic diocese, Mathew Kukah has again accused President Buhari of being nepotistic.
Kukah in his message said “This government owes the nation an explanation as to where it is headed as we seem to journey into darkness.
“The spilling of this blood must be related to a more sinister plot that is beyond our comprehension. Are we going to remain hogtied by these evil men or are they gradually becoming part of a larger plot to seal the fate of our country?
“President Buhari deliberately sacrificed the dreams of those who voted for him to what seemed like a programme to stratify and institutionalise northern hegemony. He has pursued this self-defeating and alienating policy at the expense of greater national cohesion.
“Every honest Nigerian knows that there is no way any non-Northern Muslim President could have done a fraction of what President Buhari has done by his nepotism and gotten away with it.
“There would have been a military coup a long time ago or we would have been at war. The President may have concluded that Christians will do nothing and will live with these actions.
“He may be right and we Christians cannot feel sorry that we have no pool of violence to draw from or threaten our country. However, God does not sleep. We can see from the inexplicable dilemma of his North.”
