The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Mathew Hassan Kukah, has warned politicians that using religion to manipulate politics will have a devastating effect on the development of the country, stating that it is akin to stoking fire that would consume the country.
Newsonline reports that Bishop Kukah referenced what happened in Germany during the reign of Adolf Hitler, such moves by politicians in the country would come with a grave consequence.
The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Archdiocese stated this on Tuesday in Abuja during the presentation of his new book, “Broken Truth,” as part of activities lined up for his 70th birthday.
According to Kukah, “looking at history, there is a consequence for using religion to manipulate politics,” he said, “there is the need to look at Germany as the consequences are there to see in Hitler,” he added.
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Bishop Kukah noted that the problem is that the Nigerian political elites “lacked the mental capacity to understand the consequences of the fire they were stoking.”
He added that there was nothing to suggest that the average person who is living in the north, whether Fulani or Hausa, could say that they were proud of the Nigerian political system, beyond a very tiny percentage.
“So, if you decide that you want to give privilege to a religion or an ethnic group, what will happen is that others automatically become outsiders,” Kukah noted.
