Kukah: Why Nigeria, other African countries are in constant conflict

The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Dr. Matthew Hassan Kukah, on Friday, said resource war has taken the greatest toll on the environment and is responsible for most of the conflicts in Africa and the developing world.

Kukah also identified ecological injustice as the major trigger of violence and communal tension in parts of Nigeria.

He spoke in Lagos on Friday while delivering the 24th Chief S. L. Edu Memorial Lecture titled “To Have and to Hold: Faith and Care of the Environment.”

The annual lecture, an initiative of the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), is supported by Chevron and other partners.

Kukah attributed persistent conflicts in Nigeria and other countries in Africa to the exploitation of natural resources.

“Now, in many parts of the globe, our resources are removed not to uplift common communities but to enrich distant markets and concentrated elites. The land is left wounded, livelihoods destroyed, water resources contaminated, and social fabrics torn apart. These are not merely environmental crimes.

“They are sins against justice, sins against the poor, and sins against future generations.

“Where the earth is exploited without restraint, fragility follows and fragility breeds conflict. Mining without restoration, extraction without consent, and profit without justice,” he said.

According to him, when communities watch their lands taken, their waters polluted and their future mortgaged without consent or compensation, grievances accumulate and trigger violence.

He pointed out that these grievances are often misnamed as farmer clashes, ethnic conflict, cattle rustling, religious violence or communal tension.

“At the core lies a deep wound known as ecological injustice. A state that cannot protect its land cannot protect its people.

“When ecological funds are diverted, when environmental impact assessments are weakened, the political state loses its moral authority. When state laws and rules lose their meaning and resources, citizens disengage and survival replaces solidarity. When we have diffusion of cycles of violence, it leads to what we call a war of all against all,” Kukah added.

The clergyman bemoaned Nigeria’s weak environmental culture, which he said has encouraged abuse of nature and unrestrained exploitation of resources without regard for preservation.

“Religious leaders therefore are not spectators in the environmental crisis. Our business is not being called upon to pray.

“Therefore, we cannot be spectators. We are custodians of moral clarity. The mission is to interpret the mind of God and compel the state to live according to the laws of God,” he said.

The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, His Grace Adewale Martins, in his goodwill message, underscored the urgency of decisive environmental action.

“This is a time for us to be sorry for our cruelty against the earth and to change our ways. Care for the earth is not optional; it is mandatory,” Martins said.

The Chairman of the NCF National Executive Council (NEC), Justice Bukola Adebiyi, said the theme was timely, given the scale of environmental challenges and the need for action, especially from faith communities.

Justice Adebiyi described the memorial lecture as a vital awareness tool and reminded the public that conservation is a shared responsibility, not the government’s alone.

She paid tribute to late Chief S. L. Edu, founder of the NCF, and appreciated Chevron for sponsoring the lecture since inception and for supporting several other NCF programmes and projects.

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