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The Bishop of Sokoto Catholic Diocese, Mathew Kuka has said that Nigerian politics operates in an environment that is dubiously spiritual, alleging that Nigerian politicians don’t believe they can win an election by merit of their hard work, but depend on prayer for the success of their political enterprise.
He said this on Sunday in an interview with academic and historian, Toyin Falola.
The cleric called on religious leaders to abase themselves before politicians and to reject the political class from making a mockery of their faith.
He expressed worry that religion has been sacrificed on the altar of sycophancy, adding that faith without reason breeds religious extremism and a situation where people kill in the name of God.
Kukah said, “Nigerian politics as you can see from Okija to other places has become so highly spiritualise and this is what happens in an environment when there are no predictors, there are no signs. Nigerian politician don’t believe they can just win an election by fighting hard so, they are expecting you to pray for the success of their political enterprise.
“It is not about electoral outcomes or how well electoral laws are; it is that we are operating in an environment that is so dubiously spiritual.
“The challenge for us as spiritual leaders is to maintain the integrity of faith. I have a bit of experience but I am happy and lucky that I have been able to go from one generation to the other, from one administration to the other because you have to be careful of the choices that you make.
“There are lots of people who are unhappy with me today but I can tell you after 2023, the same people who are unhappy with me today will be the ones who will be singing my praises. The same people who are singing my praises today, if they come to power, they will be the ones who will cast me out.
“I am happy with that label because it suggests a certain kind of neutrality and this is where we should be going. Religion ought to be protected from contamination by the power of the state.”
This post was written by Obiajulu Joel Nwolu.
The views expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect our views and opinions.