The
Catholic Church in Nigeria has expressed support for the comments by the Bishop
of the Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Hassan Kukah, in his 2020 Christmas message on
the state of the nation.
This
was contained in a statement issued on Monday by the National Directorate of
Social Communications of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria in Abuja.
The
church in the statement, urged lovers of truth and justice to rise in defense of
Bishop Kukah against the attack on his person and the attempt to discredit the
simple obvious truth in his message.
Bishop
Kukah had in his Christmas message to Nigerians lamented the endless woes,
which he said had befallen the country.
He
further said that the prospects of a failed state stares Nigeria in the face,
with “endless bloodletting, a collapsing economy, social anomie, domestic and
community violence, kidnappings, armed robberies” .
Bishop
Kukah also said that every honest Nigerian knew that “there is no way any
non-Northern Muslim President could have done a fraction of what President
Buhari has done by his nepotism and gotten away with it. There would have been
a military coup a long time ago or we would have been at war.”
The
above comment drew the irk of some northern Muslim groups.
However,
in the statement titled, “A call in support of truth”, the Church said the
situation in Nigeria no longer allows anyone to sit on the fence or show
indifference.
“We
are quite aware of the 2020 Christmas Message by our revered Bishop Hassan
Kukah and the enormous space it has enjoyed on social media and in public
sphere. As expected, the agents of evil have gathered to attack the person of
the Bishop and to discredit the simple obvious truth of the message. This is
the stock in trade of evil people. However, they often succeed when good
people, Christians, choose to do nothing.
“I am
therefore calling our attention to this new development so that we can all rise
in unison and stand for truth”.
According
to the Catholic Church, everyone must choose and stand up for what he or she
believed in.
Quoting
a popular verse by St. Augustine, the Church said that “evil is absence of
good”, adding that people should add a voice in support of goodness, in order
to forestall the reign of evil.
“The
truth about our nation is also that there are only two parties now existing:
the good and the evil, the oppressed and the oppressor, the suffering people
and the benefiting government officers and their families.
Please
stop allowing anyone fool you with these cards: religion and tribe,” the church
said.
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