Tunde Omolehin, Sokoto
Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, has blamed the nation’s challenges on poor parenting, which, according to him, is a reflection of our leadership.
Bishop Kukah stated this, in his sermon at St. Thomas Aquinas’s Chaplaincy, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, UDUS, at the celebration of the Easter Sunday.
The clergy noted that leaders in Nigeria do not think towards a new Nigeria just like the country we have today, where our laws are in suspension. He, however, advised Nigerian leader and other influential political figures in the country to embrace integrity and abandon the culture of personal enrichment.
Bishop Kukah also lamented on the nation’s inability to meet up with basic needs of the citizenry, even in the face of the milk and honey God has blessed Nigeria.
“It is quite unfortunate that we have to rely on the benevolence of former US President, Jimmy Carter and Bill Gates to fight hook worm and polio.
“While there are hunger, poverty, under-development in the land, the economy of India is growing courtesy of rich Nigerians, ninety-nine percent of our elites are the ones keeping the economy of South Africa,” he lamented.
Speaking further the Bishop who likened the plight of Leah Sharibu, in the enclave of Boko Haram to Daniel’s in the lions den, praised the courage of the girl and attributed it to good parentage.
According to him, “Leah’s insistence not to denounce Christianity is a message to parents, asking what are you teaching your children, because what she has done spoke volume about the quality of her parenting.
“In a situation where the constitution allows freedom of religion, why should anyone tell the young girl, you must become a Muslim to regain her freedom.
“This is just one reference point that Christianity is suffering a lot of persecution, particularly in northern Nigeria. Many Christians in the north cannot get employment, appointment or promotion to a particular cadre in their place of work, despite the provision of our constitution.
The Catholic Bishop also faulted the country’s rule of law, saying ” the greatest threat to us as a country is the inability to live according to the letters of our constitution.”