I first met Matthew Hassan Kukah through the pages of The Guardian around 1986 when we both shared the Op Ed pages of the great newspaper as contributors. I read his works and was immediately struck by the freshness and strength that leapt from them. It was the same way I felt after reading Femi Osofisan, Stanley Macebuh, Odia Ofeimun, Edwin Madunagu and some of the other pioneer Guardian wordsmiths of that time.
Like these famous purveyors of letters, Kukah didn’t write in a gray conventional newspaper style. His words bristled with vitality and power. His style was as direct as a punch in the face. He had the uncommon talent of making you feel the way he wanted. Anger, sadness, pity and laughter are some of the moods that go through you as you read his works.
His writing also has a certain rage which, fortunately, he always tempered with a sense of fairness, humour and justice.
Never shy of controversy, ever ready for a good argument and always passionate about urgent and important issues of human rights and political correctness, Matthew Kukah is one helluva human maelstrom who leaves you breathless with his stamina and dexterity for discussions on every conceivable subject under the sky
We later met again as published authors under the same publisher, Spectrum Books, Ibadan. I with my 1987 best-selling romance novel, Rainbows Are For Lovers, and he with his 1993 magnus opus, Religion, Politics and Power in Northern Nigeria. In the highly cerebral book, Kukah laid the blame for the incessant religious and ethnic riots in Northern Nigeria at the doorsteps of government and the northern-traditional ruling class. As Bishop Kukah put it: “When so much antagonism already exists, a bold government can and should accept where mistakes have been made and use the opportunity to not only pour balm on wounds, but to also seek ways of establishing a firm basis for national integration. Otherwise, the resentment remains buried.”
As for the ruling class, it was Kukah’s belief that the existence of religious fanatics and other undesirable elements who usually perpetuate trouble during communal riots is the symptom of the contradictions inherent in the political ideology of this class as it seeks relevance in a socio-political system it cannot control. According to Kukah, “the subsequent manipulation of these elements within the Islamic society becomes, at best part of the last ditch attempt by the class to stay afloat in the face of the political currents”. Father Kukah also believes that these undesirables, who serve as a reserve army that can be turned to if and when there is need, are usually misled into thinking that their future is tied to that of this ruling class.
Kukah’s observations appear to be well grounded, especially if one follows the history of the Boko Haram sect as well as the current insurgency in Nigeria.
Never shy of controversy, ever ready for a good argument and always passionate about urgent and important issues of human rights and political correctness, Matthew Kukah is one helluva human maelstrom who leaves you breathless with his stamina and dexterity for discussions on every conceivable subject under the sky. As a regular visitor to his home in Lagos, then later Abuja, Kaduna and now Sokoto, I always found Kukah at home with his poignant submissions laced with hearty, throaty laughter that are as large as his sense of humour.
I recall that I was ‘disappointed’ during our first physical meeting. After reading his often acerbic and poignant works, I was looking forward to a fiery, table–thumbing character. But there he was, very gracious, down to earth and as mild as a pope.
Talking to Kukah, one can’t help but notice how well read he is and how many subjects he is deeply interest him. Over the years, I have grown to know him as an attentive listener, a fiery critic and a gentle, generous friend.
All that is left is to wish this distinguished Nigerian and polymath God’s abundant blessings and good health in life.
* Dr. Okediran is the President, Pan African Writers Association, Accra, Ghana
