Nigeria dancing on wet grave – Kukah

 by Olusola Fabiyi, Abuja

Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Hassan Kukah, has said that Nigeria is “dancing on a wet grave”.

Kukah warned that unless something was done urgently, the grave might cave in soon.

The cleric, who spoke in Abuja on Tuesday at the inauguration of the Northern Reawakening Forum, also wondered how Nigeria deteriorated to the level where it now finds itself.

He said, “It is daybreak for Nigeria. The country is currently dancing on a wet grave. We are not moving forward. The war going on now is not between Christians and Muslims or Muslims against Christians; it is a conflict between darkness and light. This madness must end.”

Kukah recalled how a Muslim saved his sister in 2003 by advising her to run to army barracks because of an impending riot.

He, however, regretted that the said sister later lost her belongings when some people invaded the area in retaliation.

The cleric said he was scheduled to be in Tunisia for a conference but had to cancel it when he heard about demonstrations in the country.

He said, “So, how do I explain to the people who begged me to come to Tunisia and I refused because of what is happening now in Kaduna in particular and Nigeria as a whole?”

Kukah regretted that about 95 per cent of Nigerians were not happy with politicians for their failure to deliver on their promises.

Also speaking at the event, a former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Audu Ogbeh, said he predicted the crisis in the northern part of the country 10 years ago.

Ogbeh, who was a former minister of agriculture would come when emirs would not be able to even sit in their palaces.

He said though he was not happy that his prediction was coming to pass, Ogbeh said there were signs that the situation could degenerate.