Kukah, who made this comment
when he was delivering his sermon during Yakowa’s burial, said: “Those
who project Islam as the basis for power have now created crisis that
has threatened the foundation of our society, especially in Northern
Nigeria.
“Those who use religion, have
used the north, and left it poorer that they met it, more divided than
when they started. The result is that rather than seeking out men and
women of honour and integrity into public life, our country has lost the
sense of common vision to create a decent society. We no longer trust
the other; only those who worship with us, feed like us and dress like
us,” he said.
Speaking on the alleged
celebration of Yakowa’s death by some people, Bishop Kukah described
such persons as ‘scoundrels’ who constitute “the toxic waste of our
humanity, who will dance and rejoice at the nakedness of the fathers and
mothers in the market place. They should not distract us Christians and
Muslims as we hold hands together across the country.”
Kuka lamented that “years and
years of corruption and abuse of power have turned the otherwise noble
profession of politics from being a vocation into a dark temple of money
and power, occupied by those who worship the same idol,” adding that
“Nigerians believe that the good public officer is not the one who is
most qualified, most honest, the one with the greatest capacity to do
good, but rather the one who is a member of our own circle of greed.”
He, however, excluded Yakowa from this group.
“But Mr. Yakowa,” he observed,
“has managed to build a bridge to unite a people who have started to
believe in one another as brothers and sisters despite the difficulties.
He was relentless in the pursuit of peace. The result is that he has
rather, successfully, blunted the sharp cutting edge of religion in our
public lives.”
Leadership
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