‘Voice of devil not far from God’ – Kukah advises Jonathan over 2027 ambition

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Former President Goodluck Jonathan has been advised to exercise caution as he considers running for president in 2027 by Mathew Hassan Kukah, the Catholic bishop of the Sokoto Diocese.

Speaking Wednesday at the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation’s Democracy Dialogue in Accra, Ghana, Kukah hailed Jonathan’s 2015 admission of defeat as a turning point in Nigerian democracy, calling it an act of respect and sacrifice.

He pointed out that Jonathan had the means and ability to challenge the election’s result, but he opted for peace instead, a move that Kukah claimed gave democratic governance new hope.

The former president was advised by the cleric to exercise prudence while contemplating a political comeback, though.

General Theophilus Danjuma, the previous minister of defense, was quoted by Kukah as saying: “The voice of the devil is not so far from the voice of God. Listen very carefully to those who want to use you as an instrument for the elongation of their interests, and not your interests or the interests of Nigeria.”

He asked Jonathan to think carefully, pray, and decide in the best interests of the country and his conscience.

He said: “I therefore want to end by saying, first of all, it’s a great honor, President Jonathan, for me to be here. When you took that decision on March, 31, 2015, he’s written a little book, which you should read ‘My Transition Hours’, when you took that decision, was one of those moments that it was between yourself, your conscience, your God against the run of play. O the 31st of March, 2015, even before the elections had concluded, when you made that call, you were answering what to me was more or less a divine call.

“And by taking that decision, not only did you reverse, and I think your successor made the point himself over and over that you had all the military, you had all the paraphernalia of power around you.

“It would have been possible to instigate a war, but by taking that decision, in my view, the people of Athens entrusted into your hands, a touch of hope, a touch of what democracy should look like, the honor, the dignity, the sense of sacrifice, that is what democracy is all about.

“You illustrated that, and it’s the reason why when you call, I will come, when you knock, I will open the door. Because right now I had to excuse myself from a meeting of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, which is still on. Our meeting is finishing, actually, on Sunday, but I had to excuse myself to be here because I thought it was a great honor for me, you know, to be with you.

“But please, General Theophilus Danjuma, one of our greatest statesmen, President Obasanjo’s colleague, once said very often, the voice of the devil is not so far from the voice of God.

“Listen very carefully to those who want to use you as an instrument for the elongation of their interests, and not your interests or the interests of Nigeria. Think very clearly. Pray very clearly. Final decision, it’s your call.”

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