- He also said religion which had all the tools of transformation had been wrongly used in Nigeria, hence leaving the country in its current troubling and precarious state
Bishop of the Catholic Doocese of Sokoto and Founder of The Kukah Centre, Matthew Hassan Kukah, says the makeups of Nigerian culture make it easy for injustice and oppression particularly against women to thrive.
He also said religion which had all the tools of transformation had been wrongly used in Nigeria,thus leaving the country in its current troubling and precarious state.
The fiery preacher spoke at the public presentation of the National Ethical Policy for Combating Gender-Based Violence, GBV in Nigeria,in Abuja.
The clergy bemoaned the actions of Nigerians wrongly defending injustice, abuse and attacks women suffer in the country in the name of religion or culture.
According to him,women are being viewed as commodities using religion as a cover up.
“Women have always been commodities, if a war ends, you give out women, if you want to make peace ,you give out women and we as Christians and Muslims believe that it is not culture that created human beings,”he said, noting that people have the duty and responsibility to go beyond the bastardization of religion.
Speaking on how the Nigerian culture was designed to encourage injustice and oppression,the Bishop said :I recall vividly the images when we were little children, when your father was beating your mother, you can only go and hold her leg or your father’s leg because that is the best you can do.
“Our African culture also suggests you cannot go and report your father, you cannot go and report your mother and your father is beating your mother until he kills her, you cannot say anything because ‘how are you going to disgrace your father.?
“Today ,we are talking about women being sold. There are parts of Nigeria that even up till today, people will tell you that if you enter the palace of a king with your wife and the chief likes your wife, if he crosses her leg, then you go home alone