By Sunday Garba

Let me begin by thanking the Almighty God, the creator of heaven and earth for His infinite kindness and mercifulness unto mankind, especially, to Nigerians and Nigeria. I am also sending the New Year felicitation to our leader, President Muhammadu Buhari and all those saddled with leadership responsibilities in our treasured country, Nigeria.

Specifically, I am posting this special New Year greeting to the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, His Lordship, Rev. Fr. Dr. Matthew Hassan Kukah. In the same spirit, I extend the same felicitation to all my compatriots in Nigeria for the Grace of our Lord to see a brand-New Year.

The Year 2020 has been a turbulent period for all of us – both for the leaders and the citizens. But it has fizzled out now. As the New Year dawns, we are expectant of emerging better, stronger and united as a nation. Once again, let us congratulate ourselves for this special privilege which God Almighty Has freely afforded us the luxury.

For nearly a week now, the Christmas day message to the leadership of Nigeria as symbolized by President Buhari and Nigerians, by My Lordship, Bishop Kukah has been trending and resonating with assorted sounds. The bevy of diverse reactions from Nigerians to its contents is indicative of its aversion in some quarters and, also, its approval by others. It is normal and the joy of all democracies is that the people postulate varied perceptions on any issue.

Personally, I hold deep veneration for Bishop Kukah for certain reasons. First, I consider him a personage who is an embodiment of three solid endowments, all packed in one soul. He is a great messenger of God and evangelist of great repute; Father Kukah is an outstanding administrator and by His Grace, Kukah is also, an advocate of the masses, a consistent voice for a better Nigeria. In other words, Kukah is a human trinity in invaluable leadership. I adore him!

But like many other Nigerians, I have cause to disagree some aspects of his Christmas day message, which he captioned, “A Nation in Search of Vindication,” particularly directed to Mr. President for twin reasons. Firstly, its intonation drapes with a strong voice of incitement, rather than reconciliation from a personality of his status. And secondly, the message is ill-timed and ill-motivated, which frowns at the basic tenets of his vocation as a preacher of the Gospel and seeker of peace.

I am the least person to delude myself that everything is smooth in Nigeria today or the nation has been completely lifted from the doldrums by President Buhari. But the problems of this nation have been deeply entrenched for decades. I dare say at the risk of being battered that the foundations of this decay are massively erected even in individual homes by people who are not prepared to let it go for whatever reasons. The overtime has really been deep!

In the Christmas day message, Father Kukah personally alluded to this mess only by a fraction with a recent example in these words; “For over ten years now, at almost each Christmas, a dark pall of horror, sorrow, and death has consistently hung in our horizon threatening to eclipse the promises of the joy of Christmas. Recall the bombing of St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla on Christmas day in 2011.”

I consider this reminiscence by My Lordship’s as his appreciation of extent of the tribulations with Nigeria before the Buhari Presidency. No doubt, these challenges have not completely eclipsed in this nation. However, where I could not grasp the thoughts of Bishop Kukah is the conscious refusal to admit that there have been some improvements under the incumbent administration. He failed to understand that the security challenges in our country cannot be exorcised in a day, not in five years or even in 10 years or more.

Joyfully, President Buhari has given Nigerians a glimmer of hope in the restoration of peace and security in the country as evidently captured by Kukah in the release of the abducted Chibok and Dapchi schoolgirls as well as the recent Kankara and Mahuta schoolchildren. To me, this is a cheering flicker of hope.

Last Christmas was celebrated just yesterday, but I am not aware of any Christmas day bombing of a church in Nigeria, ditto a mosque in preceding Sallah celebrations. Formerly, these were auspicious times of horror and sorrows in Nigeria.

I don’t believe the narrative or insinuation by Kukah that the armed terror gangs wished Nigerians this break or respite. Our security agencies have taken conscious steps to tame the terrorists, the bandits and so on. This is worth the acknowledgement of every one of us, to ginger our leaders to more actions because it is a collective battle and, not exclusively a Buhari affair.

We are persuaded to understand that leaders are also humans in 1 Timothy 2:1-2; “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good and pleases God our savior.” Therefore, I believe that even when a leader is believed to have faltered, it is the duty of everyone of us to embolden him to overcome the perceived shortcomings.

Let me end this New Year message to Bishop Kukah by saying, we all crave for a better country. We need peace, security and prosperity as a nation. But the work to be done in Nigeria is much, but the labourers are few. It’s impossible to expect a better Nigeria, without a correspondingly better citizen.

I have no iota of doubt that President Buhari is challenged by the enormity of the work; but I also know our President is not a faint-hearted leader. He has not faltered either. He gathers his strength and inspiration as implored in Proverbs 24:10; “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.”

We owe our President and dear nation, the sacrosanct obligation to avoid public utterances likely to cause divisions, incite the masses and exacerbate the tension in the land. I was disappointed honestly, My Lord Bishop, that throughout your Christmas day message, there was no plea to incensed compatriots responsible for these organized armed criminalities against their country to lay down their arms, embrace and seek forgiveness from God. This counsel from a messenger of God is also very crucial in our expressions of despair.

Happy New Year, My Lord Bishop! Happy Prosperous New Year, Nigerians!

Garba is the National Coordinator, National Inter- Faith Organizations for Peace.