That Bishop Kukah interview

The controversy generated by the comments of Bishop Hassan Kukah in an interview he granted Channels television has refused to go away; even after a supposed clear-the-air follow-up published by Daily Trust on Friday August 21, 2015. And the reasons, in my opinion, are not far-fetched. In the first place, for a man of God, […]

The controversy generated by the comments of Bishop Hassan Kukah in an interview he granted Channels television has refused to go away; even after a supposed clear-the-air follow-up published by Daily Trust on Friday August 21, 2015.
And the reasons, in my opinion, are not far-fetched. In the first place, for a man of God, the good bishop came across as unduly partisan, in the first interview. On that occasion, one came away, not just with the impression that he was impatient with President Buhari and the ruling APC, but, more disturbingly, you had a sneaking feeling that, perhaps, Bishop Kukah would have preferred that former President Jonathan won the last presidential election; accordingly, that the election having gone the way it did, Bishop Kukah was more than a little bitter with the victors.
Assuming this assessment is wrong; everyone knows that perception is often stronger than reality, hence the necessity, in my view, for the subsequent interview in the Daily Trust newspaper. Unfortunately for the good bishop, things simply went from bad to worse.
This is because one got the impression, after reading the interview, that Bishop Kukah was something of an intellectual snob. This is understandable because of the bishop’s widely acknowledged gift of the garb and depth of intellect. He is, without doubt, one of the most outstanding intellectuals in Nigeria today. And he knows it; not only that – he seems to relish in it.
Therein, in my view, lies the problem. For, in all adulation/admiration, is a risk of the object succumbing to arrogance, if not narcissism. I am afraid, some of the bishop’s responses in the Daily Trust interview betrayed hints of both. He was in turns, insulting, abrasive, dismissive and condescending. As a result, he was disappointing. And that was unfortunate, because he singularly failed to heed his own admonition in that (Daily Trust) interview, that, the quality of a person’s mind/decency/character is revealed by the manner with which he disagrees with you.
Bishop Kukah’s public interventions have seldom failed to impress. Unfortunately, his recent brief-holding (for lack of a better phrase) for former President Jonathan and barely-concealed loathing of President Buhari and APC betray, in my view, a deep-seated bias and prejudice simply unbecoming of a man of God. This time around, the good bishop, widely acclaimed, rightly, for his gift of the garb, simply talked his way into trouble. This confirms the truth in the admonition that while it is good to have the courage of one’s convictions – particularly in telling truth to power – it is even more important to know that discretion is the better part of valour.
Barrister Abubakar Sani, Kano,  08034533892