There will be peace if politics is made less attractive -Bishop Kana Mani
Sir, you spoke so much on unity in diversity in Nigeria during the 3rd Session of the 7th Synod of the Maiduguri Diocese. What prompted you to dwell on unity? The theme of the synod is “Unity in Diversity” and principally, as General Yakubu Gowon once said when he wrote forward for a book written […]
Sir, you spoke so much on unity in diversity in Nigeria during the 3rd Session of the 7th Synod of the Maiduguri Diocese. What prompted you to dwell on unity?
The theme of the synod is “Unity in Diversity” and principally, as General Yakubu Gowon once said when he wrote forward for a book written on me he said (I am) the only Bishop of the Caliphate. I happen to come from the defunct Sokoto State and the background of my growth to the time I joined the Nigerian Army in 1968 and my service in the army chaplaincy for 22 years and as a Bishop now in my 21st year, God has given me the privilege to go round this country and to mix with many people, I discover that everybody is important and there is nothing more than unity, to unite for a common purpose.
That has been my emphasis, all these years. Even when I was an army chaplain, nobody entered between me and the unit Imam. If you touch the unit Imam, you touched me and we did naming ceremonies and everything together and sometimes, you will see the unit Imam in the church when we have ceremonies and sometimes you see us in the mosque. That has been my background and I cannot see myself discriminating in any form. And I will continue to do, so when you look at the situation in Nigeria today, we have lots of discriminations and segregations which are reducing our strength to achieve what Nigeria should be. In my charge, you will see that I made comparison of fifteen countries and I came out with a population of fifteen countries with 123 million while that of Nigeria is 150 million.
God is interested in the project called Nigeria, upon all our diversity of religious persuasion, ethnic background with about 250 languages and different cultures, we are still one. This is a thing to thank God for. But we still have some challenges and those are the challenges I ask that should be tackled headlong. If a Hausa man finds himself in the east or in the West, he should be accepted as a bonifide Nigerian and privileges and rights should be given to him.
Likewise here in the North, I quoted (late General Sani) Abacha in my submission that in the spirit of true unity of this country, during his time, the Mohammeds governed the East and then the Emmanuels governed the North in those days. I also advised the federal government and commended them for appointing the Vice Chancellors of the nine new universities who are not necessarily from the environment where the universities are sited. And if we learn to do things like that, you will see that the country called Nigeria will be properly shaped. We should not pretend and nobody should just fight for a particular region because the greatness of Nigeria is not in doubt. Let us harness what we have; the human and material resources because we have everything in abundance.
Most advanced countries today, those who are doing well in medicine, in different fields are doing so with the help of Nigerians.
So, we have all that it takes to make Nigeria realize her dream of greatness. I cited a lot of examples that even in some parts of the North, some indigenes and non indigenes are working in some ministries without problems.
I know this is happening in Sokoto. I also know that in this Borno State, there was a time when the commissioner of Justice was a Yorubaman and a Christian (Mr Sanya Olu) and his wife, Iyabode Sanya Olu was the person who established the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) here. This was done without any form of discrimination…it is very, very pathetic that either in the North or in the East or in the West that people think that this person cannot be admitted to read this course in the university because he is not from this state. We are killing our nation.
What do you think is responsible for the distrust between the Southerners and the Northerners and also between Muslims and Christians?
Yes, generally, even before the Europeans came, before Nigeria was amalgamated, we were like independent, different nations. The North was a different thing entirely with its administration well organized through the traditional institutions and that was why the colonial masters adopted Indirect Rule. The West had their system of government and also the East. As such, it is very difficult to harness and bring the people of different thinking.
Like the Kanem Borno empire where Islam came the first time, the tradition and everything is Islamic and the people are peaceful, if not the recent challenge that we have. Islam came here before Sokoto, before Kano and others. And since I came here twenty years ago, it has been a thing of joy because I discovered that we have a lot of people who are peace loving.
So that distrust has been (there) even before independence but since God has made it possible for us that we should be a nation, we should continue to learn how to live with one another. We should, in the spirit of one Nigeria, continue to appreciate one another. The Hausaman should be appreciated by the easterner and the easterner should be appreciated by the Hausaman. For instance, even the internal trade, there is no where Kolanut is grown in the north, which alone is something because where it is produced, they don’t even take it. We produce a lot of things (in the north) like beans and cows and take them to the east, which is the greatness of our country.
There are some countries that have less than one million people, which is less than the population of some local governments in Nigeria. So, these differences, with patience and genuine fear of God, we will gradually attain that greatness. We always appeal, especially to the political class, even when we had coups and counter coups by the army, most of them were initiated by the civilians. They were sponsored by civilians because they did not want a particular person to be.
If it is me ‘a taru a lalace’ (lets everything spoil), that has been the thing. There have been a lot of desperate politicians across the country, not only in one region, who go to the extent of eliminating others so that they can be. I think that is not good for the growth of this country. If you lose, you congratulate your opponent, pray for him and wish him well. The religious institutions should also continue teach people the genuine fear of God and to teach the people not to adopt the method of violence in anything because anything violent is against God. We should be our brothers keepers. Muslims are not the enemies of the Christians and Christians’ are not the enemies of the Muslims. Even the traditional worshippers should be recognized.
We should accept them as bonifide Nigerians; we should allow people to have a choice of what they want to be, provided it is within the law. People should be encouraged to be in any part of the country and they should be supported in terms of land to build their houses, employment and others. They should be given recognition. In some states, none indigenes are given some titles and that is good enough; we would not solve the problem one day but we should not be selfish.
It appears that the disaffection and hatred among Nigerians are increasing every day, going by what is happening in many states now. What is your take on this?
Nobody benefits from any crisis. The initiators of crisis and those who are the target of such crisis, you will discover that all of us are victims and if we are all victims, then nobody benefits. We are losing our youths and also losing a lot of resources. So, it is selfishness as I said and therefore, the governments of the day at all levels should provide job opportunities. There must be massive employment and those people who amassed a lot of money which even their children will not need, should spread the money to the common man. If people are economically engaged properly, they would not be used to destroy. Politicians should play politics according to the rules.
There is also element of ethnicity because true religion does not say you should kill the other person so that you can be. People use religion to achieve their aims because religion is a very sensitive thing. I can never, never ask a Christian to attack anybody in any form because that is against the teaching of the Holy bible which says, ‘Do unto others as you would like them to do unto you.’ There are a lot of factors but we should deemphasize the issue of ethnicity and religious thinking when it comes to appointments. Whoever qualifies to get anything, he should be allowed to get it.
If the President is a Muslim, he will not be there for life and we thank God that the democratic set up is now working in Nigeria because (getting democratic positions) is by election. The wishes of the people should be respected. Whoever is appointed, we should join hands in praying. Nigeria is still together because we have many people, both Muslims and Christians who want this nation to move forward. We have many people of goodwill. The Muslims are praying, Christians are praying so that Nigeria will continue to be.
You earlier said you are from the Sokoto Caliphate and served in the military. Can you elaborate on that?
I served in the Nigerian army for 22 years. I was enjoying my army work when I was appointed a bishop. Babangida (IBB) was then the President and Aikhomu the Vice President. When they were contacted, the army council relieved me in principle immediately to come and serve the church and I remember the Adjutant General of the Nigerian Army wrote a wonderful letter that the army was proud to be associated with me. After one year, I was called to sign my gratuity and pension forms in Lagos. I left the army as a Warrant Officer and a chaplain.
Thank God, two of my children are now in the army. One of them is a lieutenant. On the issue of the Caliphate, I am from Zuru local government, now Zuru Emirate. We have about seven local governments in that area and it is an emirate that is very much known in the history of Nigeria. Most of us are soldiers because when the white people came, we defied any defeat, any invader. And when they were recruiting people for the West African Frontier Force, the white people concentrated on the Zuru tribe. That is why the Bamaiyis’ father, Ayuba Tanko and all those Major Generals, some are second generation, some third generation soldiers.
Some years back, the military was seen as one Big Family that has Nigeria at heart without the issue of ethnicity, sectionalism and religion. But the allegation now is that the military is no longer the same, Muslims favour their brethren and Christians favour their brethren. Do you share this view?
Yes and No! For the fact that we are still together, it is divine permission and intervention of God. And the second institution that helps us forge ahead is because irrespective of all these small, small challenges within the military, the military is still emphasizing unity. We have all these quota system, there was time we had a Chief of Army Staff who wanted to discriminate…but for how long? Military institution is so big that one Chief of Army Staff cannot just influence it. We have a lot of God fearing Muslim and Christian officers in the military.
I recently had a programme in Port Harcourt and I discovered that P. P. Mala is from this place (Borno). He is the Commanding Officer of 29 Battalion. And Brigadier General Tukur Mohammed Buratai is the Brigade Commander there (in Port Harcourt). The way I was welcomed by them was just wonderful. So, the military institution is still intact. It is speculations but sometimes, there are small, small cases and those people are shown the way out of the army. If you are too religiously biased, it is obvious, there are elements but those people will not succeed in the military.
When you go to places like Jos, Kaduna and lately, Maiduguri, you will realize that there is a kind of balkanization. The Muslims and Christians now live in separate locations. They no longer mingle. What is your impression on this?
It is unfortunate if we go to the extent that Muslims would live aside and Christians should live aside; Muslims should have their market, Christians should have their own market. That is not in the spirit of national unity and the best option for us is to learn to live together and to learn to appreciate one another. The best way to overcome our challenges is to live together. We should not segregate. Let a Muslim be a Muslim and let a Christian be a Christian and even the traditional worshippers should not be segregated again. We should leave everything to God to do his judgment on the last day. Live and let live.
Some people are saying politicians are actually responsible for our problems and therefore democracy is a curse…(cuts in)
It (democracy) is the best form of government but it should be played properly. I have always said politicians should do politics with the fear of God because they contributed greatly the condition we are today and that is why some people are saying ‘if that is the case, let the army take over’. No, I don’t advise that the army should ever take over power again, no. Civilians should know that democracy is the best and the politicians should know that if it is not their turn, they should wait. After all, it is not possible for everybody to be a leader. There must be followers.
On the issue of corruption, what I will suggest is that let the legislature make politics very unattractive. If there is no money…even the sitting allowances…that is why people want to be there at all cost. When they (politicians) hardly pay their bills, they will say ‘let me concentrate on my business.’ Politics is where people make it because there is unnecessary money while there are people who cannot make fifty naira on a day because of abject poverty and some people are sleeping on millions and millions. This is why politics is very attractive and these is why politicians are killing their colleagues and are doing everything to destabilize the country if it is not them who won election.
Finally, do you still believe in the Nigerian Project?
Very much and I believe that despite all the challenges, Nigeria will come out greater. This is my prayer and it will happen. North, West, East and south, we are all one people. Let us fear God and embrace one another. Let us have a new heart. Let the will of God be. We should not discriminate on the basis of tribe and religion and it will be good for us, for our children and for the future of Nigeria.