Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options

Something developed countries take for granted—electricity—could go a long way to stem violence often attributed to religion, said Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of Sokoto, Nigeria, in the country’s northwest. Only major cities, like state capitals, have reliable electricity, the bishop said on April 29 during a visit to Washington. Because of the lack of electricity, people cannot do ordinary work without a generator, and generators are expensive. The problem is intertwined with pervasive corruption. “If the lights would come on...the small people would get busy,” said Bishop Kukah. Often violence in Nigeria is attributed to religious conflicts, he said, but “more often it is just a battle for survival and a battle over resources.” Bishop Kukah said Nigerians send their children to school, and they graduate from college, but then there are no jobs. He said the country has infrastructure, but people cannot access it.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

The 12 women whose feet were washed by Pope Francis included women from Italy, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Ukraine, Russia, Peru, Venezuela and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
"We, the members of the Society of Jesus, continue to be lifted up in prayer, in lament, in protest at the death and destruction that continue to reign in Gaza and other territories in Israel/Palestine, spilling over into the surrounding countries of the Middle East."
The Society of JesusMarch 28, 2024
A child wounded in an I.D.F. bombardment is brought to Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on March 25. (AP Photo/Ismael abu dayyah)
While some children have been evacuated from conflict, more than 1.1 million children in Gaza and 3.7 million in Haiti have been left behind to face the rampaging adult world around them.
Kevin ClarkeMarch 28, 2024
Easter will not be postponed this year. It will not wait until the war is over. It is precisely now, in our darkest hour, that resurrection finds us.
Stephanie SaldañaMarch 28, 2024