BEVERLY HILLS, January 13, (THEWILL) – Rev. Matthew Kukah, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto diocese, has expressed fear about the future of the country as he called on the government to separate religion from politics.
Speaking on Thursday at the launch of a book, ‘Religion and the making of Nigeria’, by Olufemi Vaughan, a professor for Africana Studies and History at Bowdoin College, U.S, Kukah, who described himself as an optimist, said he has never “been as unsure about the future of this country as I am now.”
He lamented that the Buhari-led administration had not been able to deliver on his promises positing that Nigeria may not be able to stop the wanton killings because it has not been able to separate criminality from religion.
“As a Nigerian and a citizen, I have always been an incurable optimist. But I have never been as unsure about the future of this country as I am now,” Kukah said.
“People say they are killing for religion, but intentions are not enough. As it is, we may never be able to prosecute anybody because we have not been able to separate criminality from religion. In Nigeria, we have a feeling that somehow, people can genuinely kill in the name of religion.
“I think that unless Nigeria as a country is prepared to make laws and ensure that all citizens live by same and be answerable by the same law, what we are witnessing is a symptom, not the disease. The creeping inequalities, the inability of this system to deliver has made us uncomfortable.
“The point, therefore, is not for us to keep praying. Should religion lead to the un-making of Nigeria? The answer is ‘No’. But the government of Nigeria should separate religion from politics and economics and let everybody make his claims.”
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