Re: Leave, if you are not satisfied with Nigeria’s composition

I wish to correct your news report titled, ‘Leave, if you are not satisfied with Nigeria’s Composition (Daily Trust, Tuesday, November, 1, 2016, pg 9). In it, you claimed that I said: “If any Christian is not satisfied with the way the country is being run, he should relocate to the Gambia; if any Muslim […]

I wish to correct your news report titled, ‘Leave, if you are not satisfied with Nigeria’s Composition (Daily Trust, Tuesday, November, 1, 2016, pg 9).
In it, you claimed that I said: “If any Christian is not satisfied with the way the country is being run, he should relocate to the Gambia; if any Muslim is not satisfied with the way the country is being run, he should relocate to Saudi Arabia.”
Apart from not providing the context of what I said, your report is quite misleading in its conclusions, hence the need for a clarification.
What I said was that the political class and the members of the National Assembly needed to appreciate the urgency of working towards national cohesion. Yes, I said this country belongs to all of us. But, I argued against the backdrop of those politicians who continue to toy with our future by invoking Sharia to extend their political goals. I also stated that with the current state of tension, the notion of Sharia law was capable of further deepening our tension and creating disharmony.
In addressing those politicians who keep invoking religion to toy with our future, I warned that: “If there were Christians who are not happy in Nigeria and want to live in a Christian state, they should relocate to Zambia (at least the late President Chiluba declared the country a Christian State!) Or, if there are Muslims who wished to live in an Islamic state, they should relocate to Saudi Arabia or Iran.”
I think this clarification is necessary because I am among millions of other Nigerians who are not happy with the way things are now. 
Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, Bishop of Sokoto Catholic Diocese