Peter Obi’s post-election statement has been commended by Bishop Matthew Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of the Sokoto Diocese, who emphasises that its content is unique. He proposed that the statement is non-aggressive and demonstrates coherence of ideas. Kukah espoused the belief that individuals ought to seize the chance to contemplate, rejuvenate themselves, and persist on their journey of advancement and progress whether they encounter obstacles or lose elections.
Speaking in an interview with Arise TV, Kukah acknowledged the complexity of justice, emphasising that what constitutes justice for one person may be seen as injustice by another. He referred to a concept of justice that includes four aspects: justice for the perpetrator, justice for the victim, justice for the larger society, and justice before God.
According to him, “An Oputa panel, Justice Oputa, from whom I learnt so much, you know, he used to say to me, he say look, justice is three-way strict; there’s justice for the perpetrator, there’s justice for the victim, and there’s justice for society.”And I jokingly said to Justice Oputa one day, I say look, can I make an amendment to your concept of justice? I think there should be another way, which is, it should be four-way strict. justice for the perpetrator, justice for the victim, justice for the larger society, and justice before God. What constitutes justice to one person is injustice to another, but there has to be some kind of aggregate of sentiments that says, Okay, look, the environment was created for me to try, only that I just didn’t make it, so when people lose elections, and again, you go back and read Peter Obi’s statement, which is really exceptional in its content, there’s no animosity, there’s just the clarity of thought to say, this is the road not taken, but these are the consequences, but we must continue to renew ourselves.”
