THE Bishop of Sokoto, Mathew Kukah says Nigerians must ensure that they don’t leave their future entirely in the hands of the political class after the general elections.
” Going forward, we must ensure that we do not leave the future entirely in the hands of the
political class,” Kukah said in his 2019 Lenten message to the priests, religious and faithful of the Diocese of Sokoto, a copy of which was made available to The ICIR.
“We must continue to engage them to ensure that the quality of the lives of our people improves significantly.”
Kukah said the Christians have commenced “our Lenten season amidst the trials and tribulations that have come to characterise our elections.
“Elsewhere, elections are a routine processes by which citizens affirm or withdraw the mandates given to those they have elected or offer mandates to new aspirants and seekers who wish to govern them. As always, the idea is to give power to the ordinary citizen to decide who governs him/her,” he added.
He lamented that, “for us in Nigeria, this simple, routine process has turned into a minor war,
claiming innocent lives and leaving hundreds of citizens physically and emotionally
wounded.”
Ahead of the Saturday’s governorship and state assembly elections, Kukah appealed to Nigerians to remain calm and prayerful by dedicating and entrusting the future into God’s hands.
“The elections will come and go. We as citizens would have done our duty.
“Either way, the Presidential and National Assembly elections have come and gone. Next are the second sets of elections which will again throw new challenges to us as we elect our Governors and State Legislators,” he said.
On the lessons of the Lenten period, Kukah explained that the period offers all Christians an opportunity to pause and reflect on the totality of “our lives, the mistakes and the failures, the triumphs and all
the good news we have had to celebrate.
“All in all, Lent will only be meaningful if we tie everything to the larger mission of Jesus Christ who said that He came so that we may have life and have it to the full (Jn.10: 10).”