The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Most Rev. Dr. Mathew Kukah said he hopes for when religion will no longer be a tool of fear, "Aisha marrying whomever she wants whether his name is Abdullahi or Patrick, and that Cecilia will marry whomever she wants whether the husband is Philip, whether he is Abubakar". He said "If we don't overcome our fears, we cannot build a Country.
Bishop Kukah while Speaking with journalists on his 40th anniversary of priesthood in Sokoto said rather than celebrate his achievement over the years, he celebrates the people on whose shoulders he leaned on. "I want to thank the Catholic Church, public officers and Nigerians for giving me this opportunity, as they have enriched my life,” he added.
On Economic Recession:
Bishop Kukah said that recession is a product of corruption and that Nigerians are paying the price for making wrong choices in the past.
“It is maladministration that produces corruption. Could we not have seen this so called recession coming?
“You can always tell when it is about to rain. If you see the clouds gathering, sometimes you can smell the rain. You cannot go out on a journey without an umbrella and complain when it starts to rain. So, it is the choices that we made that landed us into this recession."
Bishop Kukah lamented that nobody can tell when recession is going to end. The citizens are waiting for when the government will announce that recession has ended.
“We always talk about this recession and the hardship in the country but we have no idea when it will end."
“We are feeling the pinch but there is no clear conversation with ordinary people to suggest what we need to do to come out of this recession,” Bishop Kukah stated.
On Christians reading the Quran and Muslims reading the Bible:
Bishop Kukah said the mutual suspicion and fear between Muslims and Christians in the country is caused by ignorance. If Christian and Muslim children learn to know what the bible and Quran is, they will be able to understand one another. We must enforce the right of children to have idea about one another and their belief,” he said.
“Muslims and Christians meet at party headquarters, attend weddings together and other activities but I don’t know why Muslims in the North are afraid to enter a Church. And it is this fear that is making it difficult to build a united country.
“It is ignorance that is responsible for 90 per cent of our problems in Nigeria and it is a tragedy that we cannot pray together. We exploit the negative and stereotypical dimension of religion and it is this fear that Boko Haram has continued to exploit.
He appealed to the Northern elite and religious leaders to redouble efforts towards integrating the Muslim and Christian communities in the North.
On the recent John Kerry visit:
Bishop Kukah said he could not comment on it because he was out of the Country as at then.
On running for a political office:
The Bishop ruled out contesting for any political office, saying it was like asking a graduate to take admission into a nursery school.
About the Shiites running a parallel government:
Bishop Kukah said when government could not cater for its citizens, they resort to alternative solutions. He said there were few places in Nigeria where government provides drinking water and fewer people have their children in public schools. He added that many people now have their own sources of electricity.
"So parallel government means exploitation, the absence of government and the inability to render services. that is why when they say Shiites are running a parallel government I said everybody in Nigeria is running a parallel government because there are no roads to many communities," he stated.
He added that "No community with good roads, water and electricity in Nigeria without having a big person speak on their behalf. And this is why we can't fight corruption in Nigeria."
Bishop Kukah therefore, urged leaders to always understand the needs of their people and make effort in providing them.
