President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday said the presentation of the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Most Revd Matthew Kukah, before the United States Congress which flayed the performances of federal government in various areas as “incredible falsehood”, “disturbing”, and “troubling”.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu in a statement said it was “unfortunate and disappointing” for citizens of Nigeria to bear witness to one of their Churchmen castigating their country in front of representatives of a foreign parliament.
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Shehu said it was troubling when a so-called man of the Church copied the worst excesses of those seeking personal advancement in public office.
Kukah, during his virtual presentation to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in Washington, DC, on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria by armed extremist groups in the North, said the people are yet to see any tangible move towards tackling Nigeria’s insecurity which, according to him, has a religious undertone.
The clergy, in his testimony before the US Congress Commission, claimed religious violence against Christians in Nigeria was a recurring experience of many years, but the spate of the attacks has risen steadily in the last 10 years.
However, the Presidency said it was an incredible falsehood to say before a foreign audience that a government that put forward the first and singular plan in nearly a century to address herder-farmer challenges which was recognised by international NGOs, including the International Crisis Group had done nothing.
The presidential aide added that it was also quite disturbing to suggest that investment in infrastructure between Nigeria and Niger was wasteful and biased when a similar infrastructure project between Lagos and Benin had revolutionised the two neighbouring economies to the advantage of both our countries.
Shehu defended the appointments made the current administration and faulted the clergyman’s position that abduction of students in the North were targeted at Christian schools.
The statement also read in part: “There is no bias in this government when the president is northern and Muslim, the vice president southern and Christian, and the cabinet equally balanced between the two religions. But neither is there anything in our Constitution to state that political posts must be apportioned according to ethnicity or faith. It takes a warped frame of mind for a critic to believe ethnicity is of primary importance in public appointments. It is yet more troubling to hear a Churchman isolating one group for criticism purely on ethnic lines.
“With due respect to the esteemed position he holds, the Bishop’s assertion that only Christian schools are being targeted by bandits or terrorists is not supported by the facts on the ground. It is sad to say but also true that victims of crime, kidnapping, banditry and terrorism cut across all strata of the society. Sad but true that Kankara students in Katsina State were stolen by bandits of the same Islamic faith as those they took away.
“The same may be true of those who are still holding the 134 students of the Islamic School at Tegina in Niger State. The nation witnessed the sad incident of the female students abducted by bandits at Jangebe in Zamfara State and the over 100 predominantly Muslim students of the Federal Government Girls College Birnin Yauri in Kebbi State who are currently in captivity- and the nation’s security agencies are hard at work to release them unharmed.
“The attack on Christian students is sad and unacceptable; so also is the abduction of students of other faiths. The claim that only Christian schools are being targeted is totally untrue.
“As a nation and a people, we must together define evil as evil. We must not allow our religious differences to divide us. No one gains but the evil doers when we divide our ranks according to ethnicity and religion in confronting them. The bandit, kidnapper and terrorist are the enemies of the people who should be confronted in unison….
“There is no place in mainstream civil discourse for those who actively, negatively, and publicly label an individual ethnic group, especially before a foreign audience. These are not the views expressed or opinions held by the vast majority of the citizens of Nigeria. For all our challenges as a nation, nearly all of us seek to live together in harmony, celebrating differences, and finding common ground as Nigerians above all. But people like Kukah are doing their best to sow discord and strife among Nigerians.
“More than any other set of people, leaders – in politics or religion who preach respect for truth have a duty to practice it. It is a moral and practical responsibility.
“Going by the history of the Church as is well known, it will stand up publicly for the truth.
“It is time others did the same.”
