Matthew Kukah, bishop of the Catholic diocese in Sokoto,
says President Muhammadu Buhari is making it difficult for Nigerians to
celebrate diversity.
The cleric spoke at The Platform, an annual conference
organised by Covenant Christian Centre in Lagos, on Thursday.
The virtual event hosted by Poju Oyemade, its convener, was
to commemorate the nation’s 60th independence anniversary.
Kukah faulted the current composition of the Nigerian leadership with Muslims occupying leading positions across various political institutions.
He said the current arrangement where the president, those
in charge of affairs at the senate and house of representatives, as well as the
chief justice are from the same religion, hinders celebration of diversity and
betrays the principle of federal character.
“I think even the most optimistic Nigerian must conceive
that we are nowhere near coming to define the real sense of democracy. Beyond
just going through the process of cycles of election, we have a very serious
problem with recruitment methods,” he said.
“Reflecting federal character should be like viewing
ourselves in the mirror and celebrating our diversity because the table is big
enough to occupy everyone.
“But when you don’t have that and you put all your apples in
one basket, naturally you cannot make headway, because you’re violating the
constitution and thinking that we are in a democracy.
“This president (Buhari) in my view in the last few years
has made it very difficult for us to celebrate diversity. And Nigerians will
concede that a reward system that is so skewed, whether in favour of men,
women, Christians or Muslims is unacceptable because when it was time to vote,
all of us came out to vote.
“We need to very quickly reset the template if we are to
take our place after 60 years of independence. If we are unable to provide our
people with water, food, light, security, then it is a tough call. I am not a
happy Nigerian but I remain a hopeful Nigerian.”
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