Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, says politicians are to blame for the violence in Nigerian politics.
This is as he stressed the need for a better management of conflicts in the country.
Bishop Kukah, who spoke by zoom during The Apostolic Roundtable (ART) held in Lagos on Tuesday, lamented the violence in Lagos and other parts of the country during the 2023 general elections, stressing that after the conflicts, there must be efforts to restore peace and reconciliation.
The event, with the theme, ‘After The Storm’, held in collaboration with the Civil Conscience Global Initiative (CCGI), attracted several Christian and political leaders, including the Emeritus Archbishop of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, Archbishop Sunday Ola Makinde, who chaired the occasion.
Kukah stressed that the incidence of violence in the nation had been claiming thousands of lives, even as he maintained that the nation must do away with politics of ethnicity and region, which he stressed, breed violence during elections.
The outspoken cleric maintained that after the Nigerian Civil War, General Gowon pronounced that there was no victor, no vanquished, while the Oputa Panel, among others, made strong efforts to bring about true reconciliation and peace in the country.
He asked: “How do we try to bring a change to our environment? He maintained that the violence that erupted between Igbos and Yorubas in Lagos during the elections was regrettable.
He added that “The crisis between the Igbos and Yoruba In Lagos is regrettable because the relationship between people of the two ethnic groups is like that of husband and wife. You don’t end a marriage because of a quarrel.”
He stressed that after an election and after a conflict, there must be reconciliation, adding, “This is our only country. We must build it together.”
Kukah, however, blamed the nation’s leaders for being “solely responsible for the crises in Nigeria, adding that “after 63 years of Independence, Nigeria cannot generate 7 Megawatts of electricity.”
According to him, “We have conflicts because we have squandered all opportunities we had. Politics must be a vehicle to re-engineer the nation. But, the political class has not been responsible. They turn politics into war. Nigerians are not violent people.
“The solution to our problem is prayer. The will of God is supreme. We must be patient. God will use His tools to recreate our country. We must pray that those who like the nation will not succeed. We must all be vigilant.”
