Pope Francis is the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State has appointed Nigeria’s Bishop of the Diocese of Sokoto, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah as a member of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Human Integral Development.
His appointment was confirmed in a letter signed by the Prefect of the Dicastery, His Eminence, Peter Cardinal Turkson. The letter was dated Friday December 11, 2020.
Bishop Kukah who hails from efdom in Zangon Kataf local government area of Kaduna State. He had his primary education in Zangon, afterwhich he attended St. Joseph Minor Seminary, Zaria, before proceeding to St. Augustine Major Seminary Jos, Plateau State, where he studied Philosophy and Theology.
Bishop Kukah also attended the University of Ibadan, where he obtained a diploma in Religious Studies. He received a Bachelor of Divinity from the Urban University Rome in 1976, followed by a Master’s degree in Peace Studies from the University of Bradford, United Kingdom in 1980. Bishop Kukah’s academic pursuits culminated in a PhD from University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in 1990.
Bishop Kukah was ordained a Catholic Priest on December 19, 1976.
He was formerly the Secretary General of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria and Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Kaduna until he was ordained as Bishop on September 8, 2011. Bishop Kukah has served in many presidential initiatives such as the Human Rights Violation Investigation Commission, the Electoral Reform Committee and the National Political Reform Conference. He was the presidential facilitator who negotiated an end to the hostilities between Shell Petroleum Development Company and the Ogoni people. He also served on a Committee set up by the Northern Governors to examine the crisis of Boko Haram. He is Chairman of the Interreligious Dialogue Committees for both the Bishops’ Conferences of Nigeria and West Africa and is a Member of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Vatican City.
He is also founder of the Kukah Centre, a Public Policy Think tank with focus on faith and public policy in Abuja and Kaduna, Nigeria.
He has authored many books and publication, which includes;
1.) Religion, Politics and Power in Northern Nigeria (1992).
2.) Towards a Just, Democratic Nigeria (ed)(1995).
3.) With Falola, Religious Militancy and Self Assertion: Islam and Politics in Nigeria (1996).
4.) Democracy and Civil Society in Nigeria (1998).
5.) Witness to Justice (2011).
A statement by the Director, Social Communications, Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, St. Bakhita Catholic Secretariat, Rev. Fr Christopher Omotosho, says that by this appointment, Bishop Kukah will join other members of the Dicastery drawn from different regions of the world to advise and promote the Holy Father’s concerns on issues of justice and peace, human rights, torture, human trafficking, care of creation and other issues related to the promotion of human dignity and development.
The appointment, which is renewable is for an initial period of five years. The Council will be formally inaugurated on a later date.
Rev. Fr. Omotosho noted that the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development was created on January 1, 2017, when four Dicasteries, namely, the Pontifical Councils for Justice and Peace, Cor Unum, Pastoral Care of Immigrants and Itinerant People, and Health Care of Workers, were all merged by the Holy Father.
“This appointment adds to Bishop Kukah’s string of national and international engagements within the universal Church.
