Kukah: Creation Of More States Won't Help Nigeria
SAN FRANCISCO, January 02, (THEWILL) - The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, has faulted the ongoing calls for the creation of more states in the country, saying they won't help Nigeria's unity.
Kukah, who spoke, Wednesday in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, at the annual interdenominational thanksgiving service organised by the State Government, lamented that Nigeria was seeking unity in division.
According to Kukah, the country cannot achieve the unity of its components in the face of the current agitation for the creation of more states and Local Government Areas.
He lamented a situation where people living together in the same state or Local Government Area are asking for another state or council to be carved out for them , saying it shows that there is division among them.
Kukah also decried what he called the inequality in the sharing of resources in the country, maintaining that if the available resources were shared equally as the need arises; people would not be wallowing in abject poverty.
“Although God is our father, the resources, he has placed at our disposal are not being equitably shared the way we want, otherwise, we won’t be wallowing in poverty,” he said.
The cleric urged politicians not to see politics as a means to self enrichment, but purely as an instrument in the hands of God for good Christians to deliver the services and trust that God has given to them.
“From what I see and what I have heard people say, many of you have reasons of being great but material prosperity is never the measure of the greatness of a nation.
"The essence of government and governance is to ensure that the resources that God has given to us are used to give us a good life.
"When we live in a country like Nigeria where too many poor people who know God as our father lived together with the rich, then something must be done to redress the situation," he said.
Kukah however commended the Akwa Ibom State governor, Godswill Akpabio, for the judicious use of resources, even as he stressed the correlation between the spirit of fairness, justice and peace.According to him, lack of peace will lead to lack of justice in the midst of increasing inequality.