The resurrection of Jesus Christ which was celebrated last Sunday is the miraculous event from which Christianity draws its essence. For Christians the world over, Easter Sunday is the manifestation of the power of life over death, the triumph of good over evil, the victory of light over darkness, and the conquest of love over hatred. At no better time than now, does the message of Easter resonate with Nigeria; a nation in dire need of redemption. But as Nigerian Christians joined their counterparts worldwide to celebrate Easter, the Presidency, on Sunday in Abuja, accused Bishop Matthew Kukah of an ungodly attempt to politicize the nation’s security challenges and the hijab saga in Kwara in his 2021 Easter homily. “Some of the comments are no more than a sample of the unrestrained rhetoric Fr. Kukah trades in, which he often does in the guise of a homily,” presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu said in a statement replete with bile and vitriol. This sickening reflection of the despicable depth of politicking in Nigeria testifies to the incapacity of all the president’s men to rise up to the challenge of personal example, which is the hallmark of true leadership.
In his Easter message, the outspoken Kukah did not mince words, to describe the security challenges facing the country, saying the terror threat from Boko Haram has grown worse since Buhari took office and elevated nepotism into instruments of statecraft. To this, the Presidency quickly retorted saying it was graceless and impious for a religious leader to use the period of Easter, which is a season of love and peace, to stoke the embers of hatred, sectarian strife and national disunity. The statement read in part: “If you profess to be a man of God, as Father Mathew Hassan Kukah does, ideology should not stand in the way of facts and fairness. Father Kukah has said some things that are inexplicable in his Easter message. But, in saying that the Boko Haram terrorism is worse than it was in 2015, he did not speak like a man of God. Kukah should go to Borno or Adamawa to ask the citizens there the difference between 2014 and 2021,” Shehu noted. On the hijab controversy in Kwara, which Kukah also touched on, Shehu pointed out that it was “a state matter which the courts of the land had adjudicated on. In all of that, when and where did the name of President Buhari feature? He (Kukah) is playing partisan politics by dragging the President (Buhari) into it,” Shehu said.
With Christ’s commitment to a life of love, humility, service and sacrifice eventually vindicated by the resurrection, Easter challenges Nigerians to embrace those higher values exemplified in Jesus Christ that make for lasting peace and happiness. When Nigerians abandon hypocrisy and live out the higher ideals of Easter, redemption is possible. Easter is the time to promote hope not fear. This is not a time that silence is golden. Anyone not blinded by prejudice and self-interest will hail Kukah’s courage for speaking truth to power, because the situation in Nigeria no longer allows fence-sitting or indifference. What the time calls for is not politics as usual, but a clear reality check that would promote unity and attain peace in the nation. It is obvious that since Buhari came to power, insecurity has escalated rather than abating. The terrorists have even expanded their activities through the unwholesome abduction of hundreds of school children for ransom. More resources are daily being poured into the war without any concrete results.
Comparatively, Jesus Christ profoundly and manifestly changed the course of history. His message of love, mercy and compassion, truth, justice, and freedom, has inspired some of the most progressive individuals and movements in human history. In the course of passionately preaching and living out the truth as he knew it, condemning the injustices of the day, and promoting a religion that emphasizes the spirit rather than the letter of the law, Jesus came in regular conflict with the status quo and those who benefited from it. He was politically murdered without due process by civil authorities who made the cause of religious bigotry their own.
The presidency needs to understand that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are a lesson on the power of humility, service, self-sacrifice and true love. Jesus taught a lot of lessons through his parables and miracles but perhaps the greatest lessons he taught are the practical lessons of his own life, which was consistent with His message. Buhari and his handlers can learn a lot from the life and supreme sacrifice of Jesus Christ. For Nigerians, Easter promises a new beginning after a long season under the weight and trauma of failed leadership, political banditry, monumental corruption and the resultant economic recession, social dislocation and unprecedented level of poverty, violence and crime. Jesus Christ spoke truth to power and paid the supreme price. The central message of his short but remarkable life that should not be lost on Nigerian leaders is that sacrifice makes leadership. And no matter what the president and his handlers think, Easter is an opportunity to reflect on the state of the nation, bedeviled by insecurity, corruption and bad governance by past and present leaders.
The victory of good over evil, which Easter represents, questions the widespread corruption, greed and selfishness that define present day Nigeria under Buhari. The disposition towards crass materialism, excessive wealth accumulation and blind pursuit of pleasure is clearly at variance with the spirit of Easter. On the whole, the teachings of Christ, anchored on the dignity and inviolability of every human person, humility and service in leadership seem to be lost in Nigeria, where the forces of greed and corruption continue to thrive. Overwhelmed by blind lust for power, Nigerian leaders have manipulated, oppressed and abused their people. The conduct of our political elite is a marked departure, indeed an affront on the model of leadership demonstrated by Jesus Christ. But Easter is also a call to hope. Buffeted though by a myriad of woes – generalized insecurity, a comatose economy, a corrupt judiciary, decaying national infrastructure, a manipulative ruling class steeped in corruption, declining educational and healthcare delivery, a self-serving political class – redemption is still possible. Nigeria can still rise to great heights and regain its dignity. Nigerians can still make Nigeria work for all its citizens. It takes only sacrifice, discipline, commitment, determination, focus, integrity and visionary selfless leadership. Easter therefore challenges Nigerian leaders to abandon the paths of selfishness and greed, and the inordinate ambition for power, which have been the bane of our society.
That the presidency would descend to self-serving and shameless name-calling, especially at this time when the nation is in a state of sober soul-searching, is the height of insensitivity and unhealthy for a nation in distress. In the judgment of an average sense of decency, Shehu’s statement betrayed a moral weakness of asinine proportion. This absence of stately comportment by persons, who by authority and common trust are supposed to be epitomes of civility, is highly disturbing. If Buhari and his handlers should regard any criticism of their performance with such acrimony and disregard for the people, what is to be expected from the lower rung of the political ladder? Does it therefore surprise anyone why there is a high level of official rascality and amongst presidential aides, who ignorantly, lack the requisite temperament for governance?
One of the values of democracy remains its support of and respect for a free, fair, and open decision-making process. This process is verily endowed by the dignified propriety of behavior and speech called decorum. Decorum reflects a finesse of language and behavior, exemplified by civility and courtesy, and corresponds to its subject; knowing what to say, where to say it and how to say it. Given the knee-jerk responses to criticisms, Buhari seems to wittingly or unwittingly consider his critics as personal enemies. History is beckoning on this administration to learn to appreciate the decorum for rivalry, and take a cue from the public comportment of political rivals in developed democracies. It is a denigration of the collective spirit and a negation of the inviolability of the Nigerian people, for all the president’s men to continue conducting themselves in such impudent, supercilious, shameless and indecorous manner as they do now.
