Broken Truths: Nigeria's Elusive Quest for National Cohesion

Author : By Matthew Hassan Kukah

The book, Broken Truths, is a collection of key Convocation lectures delivered in the last few years at several Universities in Nigeria. Here, Matthew Hassan Kukah, outspoken Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, reflects on the myriad of challenges bedeviling the Nigerian nation. The book covers such themes as Insurgency, Education, Leadership, Democracy, Diversity, Justice and National Cohesion etc, in the course of Nigeria’s elusive quest for greatness. The book is vintage Kukah: gusto, courage and enthralling clarity.  

 

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Bishop Kukah holds a Bachelor of Divinity degree from the Pontifical Urban University in Rome, a Master’s degree in Peace Studies from the University of Bradford, (the United Kingdom) and a PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London. He was variously a Senior Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, United Kingdom and an Edward Mason Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, USA.

 

Besides his priestly vocation, Bishop Kukah has served Nigeria in various capacities including as a member of the Nigerian Investigation Commission of Human Rights Violations (1999 -2001); Secretary of the National Political Reform Conference (2005), chairman of the Ogoni-Shell Reconciliation (since 2005) and Convener of the National Peace Committee. He is also Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Nok University, Kachia, Kaduna State and Chairman of the Governing Council, Veritas University, Abuja.

 

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Matthew Kukah, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, is a perspicacious public intellectual within the Christian, prophetic, and democratic tradition. In this book, he addresses Nigerian and African issues around the building of a sense of national identity, unity, patriotism, and a democratic political culture. An optimist, he sees a potentially great future for Nigeria if it can overcome the leadership failures and selfish self-interest of its political class. The book deserves a wide, international readership. Though the audience he addresses directly is the youth of Nigeria, Americans will find his insights invaluable for understanding their own country as well as Nigeria and Africa. 

 

Ambassador John Campbell, Former United States’ Ambassador to Nigeria, (May 2004- July 2007) and former Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies at the Council for Foreign Relations, New York, USA.

 

 

A brutally frank interrogation and assessment of the challenges and dilemmas, which circumscribe contemporary Nigeria, are perhaps the therapeutic psychoanalysis required to propel Nigerians to deploy appropriate solutions before it is too late. Bishop Kukah is at his best in this regard in this book. It is a rallying call for a salvage mission for the discerning, to avoid a catastrophic free-fall. It is a highly recommended reading for all who truly mean well for Nigeria.

 

Professor Attahiru Jega, Former Vice Chancellor, Bayero University, Kano and Former Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission.

 

 

This is an engaging and timely collection by a scholar widely noted for his remarkable brilliance, refreshing candour and penetrating style.  Kukah has, as always, offered an admirably clear analysis of the Nigerian conundrum.  I have not read anything better on Nigerian universities and their debilitating social, political, economic and moral contexts.

 

Prof. Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission

Book Format	Price(In £)	Price(In $)
Paperback	£25.00	$
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Total Pages	ISBN
	9781913976118