Kukah: Nobody stands to gain anything if Nigeria breaks up

Matthew Kukah, bishop of Sokoto Catholic diocese, says nobody stands to gain anything if Nigeria breaks up.

Kukah said during a virtual interview with Toyin Falola, academic and historian, on Sunday.

He said as Nigerians, we are bound together and nobody should pretend we are not.

“I don’t think any Nigerian, in his right sense, should pretend nothing binds us together. This 923,768 km² that Lugard gave us binds us together. All of us are now global citizens but I know all of us are still nostalgic about this country. It is not going to remain like this and let none of us be under any illusion that anybody stands to gain anything if this country breaks up, nobody is interested in this country breaking up but the point is that who we were yesterday is no longer who we are today,” he said.

Speaking on the issue of insecurity in the country, the bishop said Nigerians are angry about the situation.

He added that it is not too much to ask for security as it is the government’s responsibility.

“The challenge is for us to create a conducive environment and this is why I worry about this government because the government has not created a narrative that points in a direction that we should be going. We don’t expect the president to do everything, we are not expecting angels, but it is that a nation has to survive on a vision about where we are going and how we are going to get there. But when you raise this question, people begin to think that you are an enemy of the state or that you are inciting citizens,” he said.

“You don’t need to incite anybody in Nigeria because government has created an environment for that development by making loose a bunch of people going around killing everyone. Who do you need to incite? You can only incite the government to take its responsibility to secure our country, it is not too much to ask.”