Kukah: Walking and talking at 63

 In his stimulating book, Outliers (2010) a pleasure to read for its clear prose and its vigorous intelligence, Malcolm Gladwell, one of America’s leading public intellectuals, revolutionizes the way the world thinks about success and successful people by turning conventional wisdom on its head. “Success” he says, “arises out of the steady accumulation of hidden […]

 In his stimulating book, Outliers (2010) a pleasure to read for its clear prose and its vigorous intelligence, Malcolm Gladwell, one of America’s leading public intellectuals, revolutionizes the way the world thinks about success and successful people by turning conventional wisdom on its head. “Success” he says, “arises out of the steady accumulation of hidden advantages: when and where you were born, what your parents did for a living, and what the circumstances of your upbringing were, all make a significant difference in how you do in the world.” With the intuitiveness of this statement, Gladwell tears down the myth of individual merit to explore how culture, circumstance, timing, birth, and luck account for success – and how historical legacies can hold others back despite ample individuals gifts.
For Gladwell, outliers are those men and women who do things that lie out of the ordinary, through a combination of pluck and initiative, parentage and patronage, and who are often beneficiaries of hidden advantages, extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies. Using examples of many of the world’s most celebrated success stories, from software billionaires and music legends to professional athletes and exceptional intellectuals, Gladwell weaves a rich tapestry of the ecology of success around people who were given a special opportunity to work really hard and seized it, and who happened to come of age at a time when that extraordinary effort was rewarded by the society.
“We have to keep walking and talking. Welcome or unwelcome.” This was the last line of a text message that Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah sent to me two days after the controversial Channels TV interview that he had, advising the new government of President Muhammadu Buhari to focus more on governance rather than concentrate its entire energy on probing the last administration. It was this interview that brought the highly learned Bishop to the epicentre of national media attention. Overnight, commentators of all shades and colours took up Kukah’s statement and did all kinds of political gymnastics with it. The most vociferous critics accused him of attempting to derail the Buhari-led government from its determination to recover looted funds and its coveted fight against corruption.
As at my last count I have made twenty-one newspaper cuttings of opinion articles – all on the Kukah issue. It is even more interesting on social media, especially Facebook and Twitter, where hundreds of critics and defenders of Bishop Kukah seemed to fall on one another to pass a comment on his considered views. For a person intent on courting public attention, being at the heart of a media storm is a good way to make a name. But for a man of towering intellectual and public pedigree that Bishop Kukah is, such an idea cannot pass the litmus test of truth. This was a critical period in our nation’s political history when many Nigerians shied away from freely expressing their views on politics and governance because of the brutality of military dictatorship. Bishop Kukah was one of the not many Nigerians who stood up and fought on the side of the oppressed masses.
However, I think that what the responses to the controversial interview brought to the fore is the growing intolerance of opposing views that has become a signature of our evolving democratic culture. Fortunately, this attitude is not surprising or new to Kukah. Some years ago, a respected Nigerian professor in the U.S. canonized Bishop Kukah (then a Reverend Father) as “Nigeria’s spiritual guide and confessor” for his active role in promoting good governance and political participation. That commendation resonated highly in the intellectual community where Kukah was, and still is, a well-respected fellow. Barely a year later, another highly revered Nigerian professor fiercely berated Kukah for allegedly meddling into partisan politics to the detriment of his priestly calling. What this professor meant by meddling into partisan politics was Kukah’s fiery criticism of the government of the day. Some people joined this professor’s wagon.
 When he had the opportunity to make a response, precisely in an essay published in The Guardian in June 2011, Kukah did not mince words in educating his traducers: “I consider myself a public intellectual with a duty to interrogate politics and political behaviour as part of the process of nation building. I am political because I am human, but not a politician because I am a Catholic priest!” Earlier in 2010, in his 18-minutes speech at TEDxEuston London, Kukah spoke about his convictions in these words: “My definition of a priest is that it is impossible to be a priest and not be concerned about the social issues of the moment.”
For those who shape and mould public opinion, whether they are journalists, writers, or intellectuals, it is important to realize that they bear a sacred responsibility of trust on behalf of society. They must strive never to betray public trust through their art.
Monday, 31st August 2015, Bishop Kukah turned 63. No matter what anyone may think about him, one thing no one can take away from him is his unflagging love for Nigeria. Over the years, he has galvanized and stimulated ideas for charting a new political future for our country. Even at 63 he remains a bold and undaunted spirit, passionately interested in the pursuit of the good of Nigeria. If for no other reason, for his robust contributions to nation building, we owe him our best wishes of good health and strength in his service of God and Fatherland. May God bless the high priest of the Caliphate!
 Ojeifo is a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Abuja