Fr. Kukah, Chief Obasabjo, Atiku Abubakar & Sheikh Gumi. |
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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