how he convinced former President, Olusegun Obasanjo to forgive his
ex-Deputy and Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party,
PDP, Atiku Abubakar.
Kukah, Ahmad Gumi, a Kaduna-based Islamic cleric; and David Oyedepo,
founder of Living Faith Church Worldwide, among some other eminent
personalities were last week present at the reconciliatory meeting
between Obasanjo and Atiku in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
During the meeting, Obasanjo disclosed that he had forgiven Abubakar
and was willing to help the Waziri of Adamawa mend fence
internationally.
However, the Catholic Bishop in a lengthy statement said he had been
working on both leaders reconciling for years.
Stating that he wanted the meeting to be between him, Obasanjo and
Abubakar, the clergyman expressed delight that the parley took place.
The statement he personally signed reads, "I was not interested in the
politics of reconciliation but the spiritual angle. Although trying to
reconcile President Obasanjo and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was something I
had been working on intermittently in the last few years, nothing
could have prepared me for the way things finally shaped up.
"My focus all along had been with President Obasanjo and I had never
brought Alhaji Abubakar into what I was doing. Quite fortuitously, a
chance meeting changed the tide in favour of reconciliation.
"I am, therefore, very clear about the boundaries, the slippery slopes
and the contexts. Unlike Shaikh Gumi and Rev. Oyedepo who were invited
to this event, I am a central actor.
"I have deliberately made this explanatory note long because I think
it is necessary that people make up their minds based on the facts,
given my central role in the event. I note that Sheikh Gumi has
already told his own side of the story. I feel obliged to state my own
side so that Nigerians can have a clearer picture of my own
involvement. Sadly, I personally did not read President Obasanjo's
statement until two days later on the Internet since I was not
physically in the hall.
"Although trying to reconcile President Obasanjo and Alhaji Atiku
Abubakar was something I had been working on intermittently in the
last few years, nothing could have prepared me for the way things
finally shaped up. My focus all along had been with President Obasanjo
and I had never brought Alhaji Abubakar into what I was doing. Quite
fortuitously, a chance meeting changed the tide in favour of
reconciliation.
"Understandably, the pictures of the four of us (President Obasanjo,
Alhaji Abubakar, Shaikh Gumi and I) literally lit up the social media
and elicited divergent reactions from the general public. Although
over 99% of the reactions that have come to me have been largely those
of commendation, with people focusing, rightly, on the reconciliation,
there have been others whose focus has been on an isolated development
that had absolutely nothing to do with what I had in mind all these
years, namely, the endorsement.
"I must say that I am eternally grateful to God that this
reconciliation finally happened. The focus of attention has been on
the endorsement of Alhaji Abubakar by President Obasanjo, a
development that I can call the third leg of the process which I
initiated. I am not sure of President Obasanjo's other interlocutors
after we agreed to meet leading to the participation of other actors
and so, I will only clear the air on what I can take full
responsibility for.
"Let me state first that I am a priest of the Catholic Church and by
the grace of God, a Bishop. I have more than a passing knowledge of
our discipline and doctrine in matters relating to the role of a
Catholic priest in political engagement. My doctoral thesis was on
Religion and Politics in
Nigeria. So, this is an area that I have written and spoken
extensively about for over thirty years.
"I am therefore very clear about the boundaries, the slippery slopes
and the contexts. Unlike Shaikh Gumi and Rev. Oyedepo who were invited
to this event, I am a central actor. So let me explain what really
happened.
"On Tuesday, October 9th, 2018, I had the honour of being the Guest
Speaker for the annual Conference of the Four Square Gospel Church in
Alagomeji, Lagos. (The Presidential Spokesman, Femi Adesina, a member
of this Church, had first invited me some years back but I could not
honour the invitation). President Obasanjo was the Chairman of the
occasion. At the end of the lecture, he indicated that he would have
to leave because he had a scheduled meeting.
"I told him I needed to see him briefly and he obliged. I brought up
again the issue of what he thought of his reconciliation with Alhaji
Atiku. My last discussion with him this year was either January or
February. His response was still negative and he told me what he later
told the media. I reminded him that I was not interested in the
politics of reconciliation but the spiritual angle. After all, I said
to him, 'as a Christian, this is an important thing for you to do'. He
was quiet and then said he would speak with me later that evening on
his final decision. We parted, he to his car and I returned to the
Church to end the event.
"At about 9 pm the same Tuesday, he called to say that he had thought
over the issues I had raised and finally decided to accept my
suggestion and that yes, he would be happy to reconcile with Alhaji
Abubakar. When did he think we could meet then, I asked him? He said
he would look at his diary and get back to me later. Then, just before
11 pm the same Tuesday, I received another call from him saying his
diary was full, that the earliest date for him was October 21st. I
accepted happily and told him that I would try and reach Alhaji
Abubakar either directly, or through his aides to convey the news.
"My initial intention had been to return to Abuja that same evening
from Lagos, but my hosts at the Four Square Gospel had suggested that
I should get some rest. Next morning, Wednesday, October 10th, after I
had finished celebrating the Holy Mass, I received a call from
President Obasanjo: 'Bishop, listen, I have changed my mind'. My heart
nearly sank, but before I could ask why, he said: 'Let us do it
tomorrow if you can reach Atiku. I am going to deliver a lecture in
Ife and will be back home before 1 pm. So, tell him to come at 1 pm'.
I started frantic efforts to reach Alhaji Atiku without luck. I
reached one of his aides, Paul Ibe, and asked him to please let him
know I am trying to reach him. Finally, at about 1 pm, I received a
call from him. I told him what had happened with President Obasanjo.
He agreed and said he would be in Abeokuta for 1 pm on Thursday.
"I got back to my hosts, the Four Square Gospel Church to tell them
about the change in my travelling plans especially as I had no car to
take me to Abeokuta. I didn't want to ask President Obasanjo's people
to send me a vehicle because I believed I needed a leeway of
independence and trust. My hosts were exceedingly gracious in making a
vehicle available, a driver and an aide to take me to Abeokuta.
Earlier that morning, President Obasanjo had called me a second time
and told me that he wanted Alhaji Abubakar to come with the Chairman
of the PDP, and two or three others. He also told me he had also
invited both Shaikh Gumi and Rev. Oyedepo. This was welcome news- Rev.
Oyedepo is a kinsman of his, and the presence of Shaikh Gumi made
sense.
"I was a bit nervous, seeing that the circle was getting larger for
something I thought was between three of us.I arrived Abeokuta about
12.15pm ahead of both President Obasanjo and Alhaji Abubakar and his
team. Alhaji Abubakar and his team arrived, and then I saw more and
more people coming in.
"I saw familiar faces of different people who turned out to be the
leaders of Afenifere. All these years, whenever I brought up this
matter of reconciliation, my idea has always been for the three of us
to sit down together. I still believed that the meeting would be
between the two of them and the three religious leaders.
When President Obasanjo appeared, I walked up to him and said I wanted
to know the protocol for the meeting. He suggested that we would meet
in a hall and that I should say a few words about how we got here. I
declined because it seemed again that at this point, we were in small
forest of politics and I had no wish to be caught in it. I was happy
that what I wanted to achieve had been achieved, namely, getting these
two men to put the past behind them. My personal preoccupation was a
pastoral one, and not a political one. I was uncomfortable with this
and I decided to make my position clear. I offered a different
proposal to help us sift the moral grain from the chaff of politics
via a three-step process so as to insulate the three of us from the
political fallout.
"I proposed that the first step would be for he and Alhaji Abubakar to
sit down behind closed doors, sort out their issues and then the next
step would be for both Sheikh Gumi and I to go in and listen to the
two of them as Rev. Oyedepo had not arrived. After that, I said, they
could continue with the third phase which from what I could see was
high wire politics and I had no wish to be caught in the web. After
they both finished their brief meeting, Sheikh Gumi and I went in and
sat down with the two of them. We had some small briefing and then
both of us spoke briefly on what they had done, encouraging them to
ensure that this reconciliation holds. I even said jokingly that I am
a Catholic priest and our marriage vows are indissoluble! After that,
we prayed and then took what has now become the famous photograph
behind closed doors.
"At this point, I felt that my spiritual duties had been achieved and
I was prepared to maintain my independence. Sheikh Gumi and I shook
hands and although I was hungry and food was being laid out, I skipped
lunch. I quietly let myself out by the side door, got into the Four
Square Gospel car and we drove off to Lagos. Despite the dread of
Lagos traffic and the disruption of flights at the Airport in Lagos, I
had declined the offer of a seat in the Aircraft which had flown them
to Abeokuta. Although flying with them was the best (and most
convenient) assurance I had of getting to Abuja in time for a speaking
engagement at an event with the Sultan and Cardinal Onaiyekan for 9am
the next day, it was necessary to ensure that I took no favours from
any of the two parties.
"I was not in Abeokuta to endorse Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the candidate
of the Peoples' Democratic Party. I perfectly understand the feelings
of many of my friends and members of the opposition who believe that I
travelled with Alhaji Abubakar and his team to attend his endorsement
by President Obasanjo, but I reiterate that this was not the case. All
the bills for my travel were settled by the Four Square Gospel hosts
for the earlier dated programme who had bought my tickets, booked
accommodation for me and took care to get me to the airport for my
flight to Abuja and Sokoto.
"I am a strong believer in a peaceful and united Nigeria, ideals for
which I have striven and served my entire adult life as a thinker and
a priest. My instincts for reconciliation and peace were sharpened
during my involvement and experience with the Oputa Panel. When the
Generals refused to respond to the invitation of Oputa Panel, I
personally undertook to visit both General Babangida and Buhari (he
was not at home) at a time that today's latter-day Buharists were
asking the Panel to compel them to come or risk being blacked out of
national life.
"Objective-minded people will remember that back in 2001, when the
Christian community and many of President Buhari's opponents claimed
that General Buhari had said that Muslims should vote only for
Muslims, many people in the Christian community were disappointed that
I wrote a long article to explain the context of what he had said
after speaking with the General. His party, the ANPP later used part
of my article for their 2003 campaigns! My faith and experience have
taught me to learn to suspend judgment till I have heard both sides of
a story, no matter what.
"I hope that this clarification helps to allay the concerns of those
who may have seen all of these in a different light. Many minds will
remain set no matter the reasonableness of my comments here, and this
is to be expected- one can not please everyone. This is why it is
often best to seek to please only one's own conscience, and here, mine
is very clear.
"I have been involved in a few behind-the-scene shuttle diplomacy for
years, largely on my own initiative, taking advantage of my knowledge
of those engaged in the conflict or at the invitation of third
parties. Some have succeeded and some have not. As a priest, it is not
in my place to publicise what we have achieved.
"I am the Convener of the National Peace Committee. This alone is
enough to place a moral boundary which I am bound to respect. The NPC
able to accomplish much because of trust and that is not what I can
treat lightly. When it became clear that both President Obasanjo and
Abubakar were on the verge of making peace, I alerted the Chairman of
the NPC, General Abdusalam. Since I happen to be in Lagos, I drove to
the Ikoyi home of Chief Emeka Anyaoku and alerted him. I spoke to my
Metropolitan, the Archbishop of Kaduna, Archbishop Matthew Ndagoso.
All in all, everyone believed this was a very good move if we could
achieve it. None of us imagined the third phase of this meeting.
"Both theoretically and practically, I have come to know that
peacemaking is a very risky business and often a thankless job. I
recall listening to the late Kofi Anan speak about his on two
different occasions. Anyone involved in peacemaking from domestic
quarrels to larger battles, must be ready for the good, the bad and
the ugly. In the end, we must wear the shoes of the long distance
runner, believing and trusting that the truth never ever sinks to the
bottom of the sea. The truth will always have a stubborn way of
defying the hostile elements and popping up at the right time, no
matter how long it takes.
"I perfectly understand that with Alhaji Abubakar having just picked
up the Presidential ticket of his Party, without providing this
context, definitely, I can appreciate why many people will have a lot
of anxieties. They will definitely be right to question my neutrality.
However, I have far too many friends across party lines for me to
openly endorse one candidate or party against the other.
"It will be against the principles of the Code of Canon Law of the
Catholic Church which regulates our public life in the political
space. The President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference has signed a
statement to the effect that no altar of the Catholic Church must ever
be open to any politician, something we have all taken seriously. I
therefore hope that this clarification helps those whose minds are
open.
"I am thankful to God and quite pleased that this reconciliation took
place and that I was a small instrument in making it happen. However,
I am sorry that it has been given a different colouration and doubts
to many people. Its timing was purely fortuitous and purely
circumstantial not a contrivance. Personally, I will never relent in
the very urgent task of making peace and reconciliation across the
spectrum of our country."
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