NATIONAL: I remain unfazed by reactions to my Christmas message, says Kukah

*Inability to accept the truth killing Nigeria – Onaiyekan

THE Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Most Revd Mathew Hassan Kukah has stuck to his guns on the state of the nation under the watch of President Buhari despite the knocks his Christmas message attracted from some quarters.

The cleric insisted that what he said about the current administration was nothing but the home truth even if even some people couldn’t agree with him.

He disclosed this during a brief chat with the Saturday Sun, adding that he had nothing to worry about despite the veiled threats trailing the message.

Reacting to the question whether there was threat to his life, the Convener of the National Peace Committee  simply said, “about what, what do you.?”

Kukah said, “There is no wahala nah. Everybody is free to say his own.”

“I just placed a mirror. Everybody will look at himself and decide what they think they see,” he said while responding to the Coalition of Northern Groups who threatened to report him to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Meanwhile, the Archbishop Emeritus of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, has expressed satisfaction over the position taken by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) to back Kukah’s Christmas message.

Onaiyekan said Kukah was not alone and merely expressed what the bishops wanted to say.

“Everybody has their own way of doing things and they should be given the freedom to speak. If you think he is telling lies, they should tell him the lies. Let us see what he is saying that is not true. But if it is that they don’t like the truth that he is saying, that is a different matter altogether because inability to accept the truth is what is killing us,” Onaiyekan said.

Asked why the message was raising dust, Onaiyekan further said he believed the government was jittery.

“It must be that this government is getting more and more jittery; less and less patient with opposing voices. They expect that everybody should be praising them and even when we see no reason to praise them, we are supposed to be praising them, telling them that we are very well, everything is fantastic.

“But we know very well that not many people are saying that. They should be ready to listen to uncomplimentary remarks, especially when it is geared towards getting a better result for the nation,” Onaiyekan maintained.