By Luka Binniyat
Overview of the Book
The book, Reflections of a Shepherd: The Quotations of Bishop Matthew Kukah, is a 229-page hardcover with thick removable paper wrapped over it. It is authored by James S. Swam and published by Edgewaters Communications Ltd, Kaduna, 2025.
The Foreword was written by Most Rev. Matthew Man-Oso Ndagoso, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kaduna. Archbishop Ndagoso, a towering figure in the Catholic Church, offers a glimpse into the didactic richness of the book, describing the 200 quotations as reflecting “the heart of a priest deeply concerned about humanity and the dignity of every person.”
Author’s Effort and Depth of Research
Swam, an accomplished journalist with decades of experience, an award-winning public relations practitioner, and author of other books, poured thousands of hours of painstaking research into documenting the works of one of the world’s most outstanding and outspoken Catholic priests to emerge from Africa.
It could not have been an easy task, judging by the fecund, deeply introspective, and restless mind of Bishop Kukah, whose words carry the force of moral authority in a nation soiled by grievous maladies that have refused to abate.
The book is divided into ten thematic chapters, each capturing enthralling and stimulating quotations that are timeless and universal.
Swam’s efforts affirm the incredible demand for Kukah’s lectures across continents and at international assemblies of dignitaries, including his home country, Nigeria.
Themes of Power, Justice, and Human Responsibility
“The world will always be full of men and women with grand delusions about how they have been divinely sent to create a new world at the cost of human blood. However, we must work hard to cure them of their delusions by taking them out of circulation,” he says during the G-20 Religion Forum (R20) Dialogue in Bali, Indonesia, November 2022 on page 22 of Chapter One.
In Chapter 2, page 55 of the book, Swam quotes Kukah’s Witness to Justice: “If we are unable to hold our leaders accountable for their promises to us . . . then there is a sense in which those of us who claim some levels of literacy and possess a critical mind are guilty bystanders to the collective oppression of our people.”
In fact, Reflections of a Shepherd reveals the anger, frustration, and anxiety that the Southern Kaduna-born Catholic Bishop holds for his country and humanity on one hand, and the hope, vision, and faith that he still nurtures for both on the other.
Kukah’s Critique of Nigeria’s Condition
Delivering the University of Jos Convocation Lecture on 25 June 2025, under the title, Broken Truths: Nigeria’s Elusive Quest for National Cohesion, Kukah exploded thus:
“The idea that today, semi-illiterate and illiterate herdsmen have held the country ransom under the Boko Haram insurgency and the endless killings across the country suggests how low we have sunk in the quality of our security system and in terms of levels of cohesiveness in our society,” Chapter Three, page 96.
On corruption, he said “The real challenge that we face is how to find the space to express both our creeds and grievances in a society that has become increasingly dysfunctional as a result of the corruption of a tiny elite,” page 81, Chapter Three at a conference by the Foundation Ambrosiana Paolo VI in collaboration with the Archdiocese of Milan, Italy, September 2015.
“Nigeria is a terrible and unjust society. . .” Kukah notes in Chapter Four, page 141. “It’s not just to itself, it’s not fair to its citizens in various categories,” he says further, adding that, “It doesn’t even have the architecture to make justice happen,” in an interview with Arise News on August 9, 2021.
As the chapters roll on, Kukah’s poignant commentaries on the human situation are largely aimed at the ruling elite.
“Governance is seen as state capture where politicians share patronage based on their cynical exploitation of the fault lines of religion and ethnicity,” he says at the G-20 Religion Forum (R20) Dialogue in Bali, Indonesia in November 2022, adding that, “Nepotism becomes a weapon of mass corruption.”
Hope Amidst National Challenges
Yet, Kukah does not seem to give up on his country and mankind.
At the United States Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing on the Nigerian situation during the Religious Freedom Hearing in Washington D.C on July 13, 2021, Kukah reflected that, “We cannot give up. We must renew our commitment to creating a just society,” as captured in Chapter 5, page 142 of the book.
“Yes, though tribe and tongue may differ, creating an equal society is not impossible,” he insists on page 149.
Tributes and Reflections on Notable Figures
Though the book largely captures Kukah’s repugnance to injustice, human suffering and bad governance, Reflections of a Shepherd gives readers insight into great characters to whom Kukah pens glowing tributes:
“Mr Yakowa has opened a door and it will never shut again,” says Kukah in his homily at the burial mass of the late Governor of Kaduna State, Sir Patrick Yakowa, in Fadan Kagoma, Kaduna State, on September 20, 2012.
“Because Mr Yakowa passed here, Kaduna State politics will now be defined as before Yakowa and after Yakowa,” he says. “Indeed, for you, the entire people of Southern Kaduna, especially the youths, rise, fear is dead and it will never rise again,” he affirms.
Late Pope Francis; Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa; late President of Nigeria, Alhaji Shehu Shagari; and late Dr Junaidu Mohammed received generous attention from Bishop Kukah in Chapter Nine of the book.
Notable Omissions
It would, however, appear that the author deliberately avoided including some quotations of the oratorical Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese that had stirred controversy in the past.
This is totally understandable since Swam is a quintessential public relations expert, who was awarded the 2022 Outstanding Performance in Communication and Relationships Management by the African Educationist Project.
Production Quality and Printer’s Error
Though the book is generous in spacing and lavishly top-notch in print quality, its pagination is, however, rather awkwardly scrambled between pages 118 and 122. But that did not in any way harm the content and intent of the book.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Reflections of a Shepherd is a must-read for the millions of fans of Bishop Matthew Kukah and for all those who seek motivation, inspiration, and guidance in leadership.
I am anxiously looking forward to its public presentation with great expectations.
Binniyat, National Spokesman of the Middle Belt Forum is a Correspondent with TruthNigeria.com
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