- * Also Hails Nigerian Youth's Effort On Nation Building
By Ankeli Emmanuel (Sokoto)
United States of America's (USA) Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, has commended the industry and determination of the Nigerian youths in their quest to help build a virile and united country.
She also decried the state of insecurity in Nigeria and called on the governments at both federal, state, and local levels to step up efforts towards addressing the challenge.
The US Ambassador to Nigeria spoke when she visited the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, in Sokoto on Friday. She advised all Nigerians to see the security of the country and her citizen's safety as the responsibility of everybody, irrespective of their positions or geographical locations.
According to Mary Beth, Nigerians should be worried about the direction and future of the country, while also seeking transparency and accountability in public governance. She also stated that the various occurrences in the country were an indication that Nigerians desire a better country and a better deal in the governance of the nation.
Mary Beth said: "Nigeria has young energetic and busy people trying to make things work". She however admonishes Nigerian youths to take advantage of the American Corner in Sokoto State to strengthen the nation's unity.
Responding, the host and Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, said the time has come for Nigerians to reason and reflect on the years of Nigeria's rudderlessness and governance challenges which have affected all facets of the country as reflected in the current atmosphere of insufficient love, mistrust and lack of confidence in the system and amongst the citizenry.
Bishop Kukah expressed concern about the growing insecurity in the country, which though had existed in recent years and not well attended to, but averred that what is actually driving the insecurity and insurgency in the country is the wrong perception. He lamented that most Nigerians do not have a sense of common citizenship, adding that there must be a deliberate and concerted effort towards ensuring the proper unity of the country.
Kukah said: "What I see from the young people is that 80 percent of the those involved in these atrocities don't even travel out of their comfort zones". He stated that the bandits and insurgents in Nigeria have a mission and narrated how one of the Catholic Priest that was kidnapped was allegedly asked to denounce his Christian faith and become a Muslim to avoid been killed.
"One of our Priest that was kidnapped recently told me that his abductors demanded that he must become a Muslim to avoid been killed. So why must we continue to pretend not to know who these bandits are and what their mission is? The fact that Muslims are also being killed doesn't justify the fact that these criminals don't have a mission.
"Very recently, Sheikh Abubakar Mahmud Gumi of Kaduna State was in the news for going to meet these bandits in their respective enclaves. And of course, you do not expect him to go with any pastor because he knows that these bandits aren't Christians. I do not see how Nigeria will move forward without addressing some of these concrete facts. It's impossible to pull ourselves out of these messes. We need a constant touch with the leadership to ensure that they are reminded of their vows. We still have time but not much time", Kukah observed.
Speaking on the role of the civil society organizations towards ensuring good governance, Bishop Kukah said the NGOs now assume that they didn't need to have a role in the governance of their country after ensuring an end to the military regimes and enthronement of a democratic civilian government. Kukah however suggested that "we must get our youths out of this pigeon hole of north and south, Christian versus Muslims divide mentality that has gripped many".
He further noted that any sane Nigerian will read meanings to the recent EndSars protest as a manifestation of bottled anger and frustration about so many ills in the society. "For me, and many others, the recent EndSars protest wasn't really about the security but a manifestation of grievances about so many things.
"For me, if we are not very careful, EndSars will finally become a culture a few years from now. I see it as a means for changing so many things. I see a situation where Nigerians will begin to demonstrate their dissatisfaction about things they are not genuinely satisfied with and may need to change".
Bishop Kukah also came down hard on social media, blaming it for being an instrument of disunity and hate, rather than becoming an avenue for national unity. He stated that it has further eroded the social and moral fabric of Nigerian society. NNL.
