Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of Sokoto Diocese, has attributed the myriad of challenges facing the country in all facets of life to the “heap from the harvest of broken truths, lies and innuendos” that have dominated the history of the country and made national cohesion impossible.
The bishop made this submission in a lecture titled: Broken Truths: Nigeria’s Elusive Quest for National Cohesion; delivered recently, as part of the graduation ceremony of the University of Jos, Plateau State, for the year 2018.
Going down memory lane on the history of the country, since the colonial era to date, Bishop Kukah regretted that there is no good records of monumental events in Nigeria, that can be used to guide the facilitation of democracy and national cohesion. He remarked: “We are surrounded by walls of lies, half-truths and innuendos which have become woven into the tapestry of our national history.”
Noting the absence of generally acceptable authentic reports of historical events in the life of the country, especially since
Independence; the Local Ordinary of Sokoto Diocese remarked: “We have no comprehensive history of the civil war. We have no exhaustive history of the various coups that took place in the country. We have no complete narrative of the history of political formations and culture in Nigeria.” He added: “Every phase of our recorded national history is a mish- mash of half truths, stratagems and incomplete stories, drawn from rumour, allegations, and outright lies to the public, as well as of course the fact that each of us sees reality from diverse perspectives.”
Going down memory lane on how the country got to the present sorry state; Bishop Kukah identified the neglect of the nation’s intellectual landscape, the disastrous incursion of the military into governance, socio-economic and political instability, corruption and insecurity; and other challenges and proffered ways on how to get the country out of her present predicament.
The Sokoto Diocese Local Ordinary spoke extensively on the issues of: the road not taken by the nation; the colonial legacy and Independence, the incursion of the military which, according to him was Paradise postponed; democracy and the return to democracy and the road towards National cohesion.