Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka on Monday said no part of
the comment made by the Bishop, Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Mathew Hassan Kukah
against President Muhammadu Buhari denigrated Islam.
He said calls by some extremists that he should apologise or
leave Sokoto were unacceptable.
Soyinka, in a statement, said it should not come as a
surprise that a section of Islamic community, not only claimed to have found
offence in Father Kukah’s New Year address, “what is bothersome, even
unwholesome, is the embedded threat to storm his ‘Capitol’ and eject him,
simply for ‘speaking in tongues’”.
“Any pluralistic society must emphatically declare such a
response unacceptable. On a personal note, I have studied the transcript as
reported in the media and found nothing in it that denigrates Islam but then, I
must confess, I am not among the most religion besotted inhabitants of the
globe. That, I have been told, disqualifies me from even commenting on the
subject and, quite frankly, I wish that were indeed the case.
“Life would far less complicated. However, the reverse
position does not seem to be adopted by such religionists in a spirit of
equity. They do not hesitate to intervene; indeed some consider themselves
divinely empowered to intervene, even dictate in secular life.”
The Nobel laureate said the timing of Rev Father Kukah’s
Christmas message, and the ensuing offensives could not be more fortuitous,
seeing that it came at a time when a world powerful nation, still reeling from
an unprecedented assault on her corporate definition, is now poised to set, at
the very least, a symbolic seal on her commitment to the democratic ideal.
According to him, let no one be in any doubt that some of
the most extreme of the violent forces that recently assaulted her governance
citadel were sprung from religious and quasi-religious affirmations, a
condition that still enabled many of them to be brainwashed into accepting
literally, and uncritically, indeed as gospel truth, any pronouncement, however
outrageous and improbable, that emerged from their leadership.
He stated: “As usual, we have not lacked, within our own
distanced environment, advocates who, even till recently, claimed to have seen
in their vision, the triumph of God’s own anointed in the electoral contest of
that same United States. They have been specific in their prophesy that what
was denied at the ballot box would be restored in the law courts.
“And to set a divine seal on the matter, were not our
streets in a part of this nation actually inundated by religious processions in
support of the candidacy of their supposed Messiah, named Donald Trump? They
had conferred on him the mantle of upholder of Christian values, endangered by
satanic practices in, of all places, a nation designated as – God’s own
Country!”
Soyinka added: “Of course, not all such tendencies represent
the true face of any professed religion, we need only remark that all religions
are plagued by a lunatic fringe. In this nation we have learnt the painful way
what such inbred loonies are capable of.
“Thus, extreme care, and historic awareness, should be taken
in imputing any act or pronouncement as an attack on faith. At base,
competitors for recognition as first line defenders of the ramparts of
religiosity are often motivated by non-religious agenda, which is yet another
reason for the exercise of restraint and collective responsibility.”
“What is Father Kukah saying? Simply what observant and
concerned citizens of United States society recently remarked. The conduct of
the US security forces, when confronted by peaceful protesters during the BLACK
LIVES MATTER movement, was vastly different from that of the same security
agencies when a predominantly white mob invaded its seat of government,
thrashed it and hunted down a people’s elected representatives, rampaging for
hours before they were finally “escorted out”.
“Such a contrast goes to the heart of nation being, and poses a real and urgent danger. That accusation has been voiced by both sides of the colour divide and across class divisions. Again and again, the warning was loudly voiced, it was unheeded. We remain fools if we fail to learn from the costly complacencies of others,” he said.
According to Soyinka, the obvious issue, to summarize, is –
double standards, lack of equitable dealing, adding that agreement or
disagreement with Father Kukah’s position is demonstration of a nation’s badge
of maturity, and should be read, quite obviously, as a continuation of that
nagging, provocative discourse.
“One fails to understand why religion is being sprung centre
stage as a legitimate extract from that New Year address. There is a
deliberate, emotive displacement of a central concern. It is calculated
avoidance, diversionary, and thus, nationally unhealthy. Humans should not
attempt to play ostrich,” he stated.
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