Mathew Kukah, Catholic bishop of
Sokoto diocese, has explained how he convinced ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo
to reconcile with Atiku Abubabar, former vice-president.
Obasanjo had on Thursday played
host to Kukah, Ahmad Gumi, a Kaduna-based Islamic cleric; and David Oyedepo,
founder of Living Faith Church Worldwide, and some top politicians and civil
rights activists at his hill-top residence in Abeokuta, Ogun state.
The ex-president, during the
occasion announced his endorsement of Abubakar as his preferred candidate for
the 2019 presidential election, saying he has forgiven his former deputy.
Criticisms had trailed the visit,
with many accusing the religious leaders of swimming in the mud of politics.
Oyedepo has since absolved
himself of the criticisms, saying his presence during the meeting was that of a
mediator.
Kukah followed suit in a wordy
statement, to explain his role in the meeting. Both Oyedepo and Kukah said they
received no financial tipping from any politician.
Kukah said he only went to
Obasanjo’s residence to complete the reconciliation agenda which he had been
pursuing for years.
He expressed delight that the
meeting took place, saying he remained eternally grateful to God.
According to him, he had planned
for the meeting to be between just the three of them, but his host requested
the presence of other parties, a plan he says he was not comfortable with.
“I was not interested in the
politics of reconciliation but the spiritual angle. Although trying to
reconcile President Obasanjo and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was something I had been
working on intermittently in the last few years, nothing could have prepared me
for the way things finally shaped up,” Kukah said.
“My focus all along had been with
President Obasanjo and I had never brought Alhaji Abubakar into what I was
doing. Quite fortuitously, a chance meeting changed the tide in favour of
reconciliation.
“I am therefore very clear about
the boundaries, the slippery slopes and the contexts. Unlike Shaikh Gumi and
Rev. Oyedepo who were invited to this event, I am a central actor.”
Read the full statement below
I have deliberately made this
explanatory note long because I think it is necessary that people make up their
minds based on the facts, given my central role in the event. I note that
Sheikh Gumi has already told his own side of the story. I feel obliged to state
my own side so that Nigerians can have a clearer picture of my own involvement.
Sadly, I personally did not read President Obasanjo’s statement until two days
later on the Internet since I was not physically in the hall.
Although trying to reconcile
President Obasanjo and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was something I had been working
on intermittently in the last few years, nothing could have prepared me for the
way things finally shaped up. My focus all along had been with President
Obasanjo and I had never brought Alhaji Abubakar into what I was doing. Quite
fortuitously, a chance meeting changed the tide in favour of reconciliation.
Understandably, the pictures of
the four of us (President Obasanjo, Alhaji Abubakar, Shaikh Gumi and I)
literally lit up the social media and elicited divergent reactions from the
general public. Although over 99% of the reactions that have come to me have
been largely those of commendation, with people focusing, rightly, on the
reconciliation, there have been others whose focus has been on an isolated
development that had absolutely nothing to do with what I had in mind all these
years, namely, the endorsement.
I must say that I am eternally
grateful to God that this reconciliation finally happened. The focus of
attention has been on the endorsement of Alhaji Abubakar by President Obasanjo,
a development that I can call the third leg of the process which I initiated. I
am not sure of President Obasanjo’s other interlocutors after we agreed to meet
leading to the participation of other actors and so, I will only clear the air
on what I can take full responsibility for.
Let me state first that I am a
priest of the Catholic Church and by the grace of God, a Bishop. I have more
than a passing knowledge of our discipline and doctrine in matters relating to
the role of a Catholic priest in political engagement. My doctoral thesis was
on Religion and Politics in
Nigeria. So, this is an area that
I have written and spoken extensively about for over thirty years.
I am therefore very clear about
the boundaries, the slippery slopes and the contexts. Unlike Shaikh Gumi and
Rev. Oyedepo who were invited to this event, I am a central actor. So let me
explain what really happened.
On Tuesday, October 9th, 2018 I
had the honor of being the Guest Speaker for the annual Conference of the Four
Square Gospel Church in Alagomeji, Lagos. (The Presidential Spokesman, Femi
Adesina, a member of this Church, had first invited me some years back but I
could not honour the invitation). President Obasanjo was the Chairman of the
occasion. At the end of the lecture, he indicated that he would have to leave
because he had a scheduled meeting.
I told him I needed to see him
briefly and he obliged. I brought up again the issue of what he thought of his
reconciliation with Alhaji Atiku. My last discussion with him this year was
either January or February. His response was still negative and he told me what
he later told the media. I reminded him that I was not interested in the
politics of reconciliation but the spiritual angle. After all, I said to him,
‘as a Christian, this is an important thing for you to do’. He was quiet and
then said he would speak with me later that evening on his final decision. We
parted, he to his car and I returned to the Church to end the event.
At about 9pm the same Tuesday, he
called to say that he had thought over the issues I had raised and finally
decided to accept my suggestion and that yes, he would be happy to reconcile
with Alhaji Abubakar. When did he think we could meet then, I asked him? He
said he would look at his diary and get back to me later. Then, just before 11pm
the same Tuesday, I received another call from him saying his diary was full,
that the earliest date for him was October 21st. I accepted happily and told
him that I would try and reach Alhaji Abubakar either directly, or through his
aides to convey the news.
My initial intention had been to
return to Abuja that same evening from Lagos, but my hosts at the Four Square
Gospel had suggested that I should get some rest. Next morning, Wednesday
October 10th, after I had finished celebrating the Holy Mass, I received a call
from President Obasanjo: ‘Bishop, listen, I have changed my mind’. My heart
nearly sank, but before I could ask why, he said: ‘Let us do it tomorrow if you
can reach Atiku. I am going to deliver a lecture in Ife and will be back home
before 1pm. So, tell him to come at 1pm’. I started frantic efforts to reach
Alhaji Atiku without luck. I reached one of his aides, Paul Ibe, and asked him
to please let him know I am trying to reach him. Finally, at about 1pm, I
received a call from him. I told him what had happened with President Obasanjo.
He agreed and said he would be in Abeokuta for 1pm on Thursday.
I got back to my hosts, the Four
Square Gospel Church to tell them about the change in my travelling plans
especially as I had no car to take me to Abeokuta. I didn’t want to ask
President Obasanjo’s people to send me a vehicle because I believed I needed a
leeway of independence and trust. My hosts were exceedingly gracious in making
a vehicle available, a driver and an aide to take me to Abeokuta. Earlier that
morning, President Obasanjo had called me a second time and told me that he
wanted Alhaji Abubakar to come with the Chairman of the PDP, and two or three
others. He also told me he had also invited both Shaikh Gumi and Rev. Oyedepo.
This was welcome news- Rev. Oyedepo is a kinsman of his, and the presence of
Shaikh Gumi made sense.
I was a bit nervous, seeing that
the circle was getting larger for something I thought was between three of us.I
arrived Abeokuta about 12.15pm ahead of both President Obasanjo and Alhaji
Abubakar and his team. Alhaji Abubakar and his team arrived, and then I saw
more and more people coming in.
I saw familiar faces of different
people who turned out to be the leaders of Afenifere. All these years, whenever
I brought up this matter of reconciliation, my idea has always been for the
three of us to sit down together. I still believed that the meeting would be
between the two of them and the three religious leaders.
When President Obasanjo appeared,
I walked up to him and said I wanted to know the protocol for the meeting. He
suggested that we would meet in a hall and that I should say a few words about
how we got here. I declined because it seemed again that at this point, we were
in small forest of politics and I had no wish to be caught in it. I was happy
that what I wanted to achieve had been achieved, namely, getting these two men
to put the past behind them. My personal preoccupation was a pastoral one, and
not a political one. I was uncomfortable with this and I decided to make my
position clear. I offered a different proposal to help us sift the moral grain
from the chaff of politics via a three-step process so as to insulate the three
of us from the political fallout.
I proposed that the first step
would be for he and Alhaji Abubakar to sit down behind closed doors, sort out
their issues and then the next step would be for both Sheikh Gumi and I to go
in and listen to the two of them as Rev. Oyedepo had not arrived. After that, I
said, they could continue with the third phase which from what I could see was
high wire politics and I had no wish to be caught in the web. After they both
finished their brief meeting, Sheikh Gumi and I went in and sat down with the
two of them. We had some small briefing and then both of us spoke briefly on
what they had done, encouraging them to ensure that this reconciliation holds.
I even said jokingly that I am a Catholic priest and our marriage vows are
indissoluble! After that, we prayed and then took what has now become the famous
photograph behind closed doors.
At this point, I felt that my
spiritual duties had been achieved and I was prepared to maintain my
independence. Sheikh Gumi and I shook hands and although I was hungry and food
was being laid out, I skipped lunch. I quietly let myself out by the side door,
got into the Four Square Gospel car and we drove off to Lagos. Despite the
dread of Lagos traffic and the disruption of flights at the Airport in Lagos, I
had declined the offer of a seat in the Aircrafts which had flown them to
Abeokuta. Although flying with them was the best (and most convenient)
assurance I had of getting to Abuja in time for a speaking engagement at an
event with the Sultan and Cardinal Onaiyekan for 9am the next day, it was
necessary to ensure that I took no favours from any of the two parties.
I was not in Abeokuta to endorse
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party. I
perfectly understand the feelings of many of my friends and members of the
opposition who believe that I travelled with Alhaji Abubakar and his team to
attend his endorsement by President Obasanjo, but I reiterate that this was not
the case. All the bills for my travel were settled by the Four Square Gospel
hosts for the earlier dated programme who had bought my tickets, booked
accommodation for me and took care to get me to the airport for my flight to
Abuja and Sokoto.
I am a strong believer in a
peaceful and united Nigeria, ideals for which I have striven and served my
entire adult life as a thinker and a priest. My instincts for reconciliation
and peace were sharpened during my involvement and experience with the Oputa
Panel. When the Generals refused to respond to the invitation of Oputa Panel, I
personally undertook to visit both General Babangida and Buhari (he was not at
home) at a time that today’s latter day Buharists were asking the Panel to
compel them to come or risk being blacked out of national life.
Objective-minded people will
remember that back in 2001, when the Christian community and many of President
Buhari’s opponents claimed that General Buhari had said that Muslims should
vote only for Muslims, many people in the Christian community were disappointed
that I wrote a long article to explain the context of what he had said after speaking
with the General. His party, the ANPP later used part of my article for their
2003 campaigns! My faith and experience have taught me to learn to suspend
judgment till I have heard both sides of a story, no matter what.
I hope that this clarification
helps to allay the concerns of those who may have seen all of these in a
different light. Many minds will remain set no matter the reasonableness of my
comments here, and this is to be expected- one can not please everyone. This is
why it is often best to seek to please only one’s own conscience, and here,
mine is very clear.
I have been involved in a few
behind-the-scene shuttle diplomacy for years, largely on my own initiative,
taking advantage of my knowledge of those engaged in the conflict or at the
invitation of third parties. Some have succeeded and some have not. As priest,
it is not in my place to publicise what we have achieved.
I am the Convener of the National
Peace Committee. This alone is enough to place a moral boundary which I am
bound to respect. The NPC able to accomplish much because of trust and that is
not what I can treat lightly. When it became clear that both President Obasanjo
and Abubakar were on the verge of making peace, I alerted the Chairman of the
NPC, General Abdusalam. Since I happen to be in Lagos, I drove to the Ikoyi
home of Chief Emeka Anyaoku and alerted him. I spoke to my Metropolitan, the
Archbishop of Kaduna, Archbishop Matthew Ndagoso. All in all, everyone believed
this was a very good move if we could achieve it. None of us imagined the third
phase of this meeting.
Both theoretically and
practically, I have come to know that peace making is a very risky business and
often a thankless job. I recall listening to the late Kofi Anan speak about his
on two different occasions. Anyone involved in peace making from domestic
quarrels to larger battles, must be ready for the good, the bad and the ugly.
In the end, we must wear the shoes of the long distance runner, believing and
trusting that the truth never ever sinks to the bottom of the sea. The truth
will always have a stubborn way of defying the hostile elements and popping up
at the right time, no matter how long it takes.
I perfectly understand that with
Alhaji Abubakar having just picked up the Presidential ticket of his Party,
without providing this context, definitely, I can appreciate why many people
will have a lot of anxieties. They will definitely be right to question my
neutrality. However, I have far too many friends across party lines for me to
openly endorse one candidate or party against the other.
It will be against the principles
of the Code of Canon Law of the Catholic Church which regulates our public life
in the political space. The President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference has
signed a statement to the effect that no altar of the Catholic Church must ever
be open to any politician, something we have all taken seriously. I therefore
hope that this clarification helps those whose minds are open.
I am thankful to God and quite
pleased that this reconciliation took place and that I was a small instrument
in making it happen. However, I am sorry that it has been given a different
colouration and doubts to many people. Its timing was purely fortuitous and
purely circumstantial not a contrivance. Personally, I will never relent in the
very urgent task of making peace and reconciliation across the spectrum of our
country.
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