Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto in Nigeria and Founder of The Kukah Centre is the winner of this Year’s Mundo Negro Fraternity Award, which identifies outstanding candidates connected with Africa.
The Kukah Centre made public the award on Monday, September 18, making reference to a letter that the vocal Nigerian Catholic Bishop, who is also known for good governance advocacy received from Fr. Enrique Bayo Mata.
In the letter, Fr. Bayo, a member the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus (MCCJ) and Director of the Madrid-based Spanish Magazine, Mundo Negro, acknowledges Bishop Kukah’s contribution to a better world through a peace and development institution he founded in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.
“Every year, the Magazine organizes the Encounter with Africa during which the Award is given to a chosen African personality or institution that has been characterized by their contribution to the construction of a better world and a better African continent,” Fr. Bayo says
“Our eyes have been opened to the excellent work of the Kukah Centre founded by you,” the official of the Spanish Comboni mission magazine says in the letter.
The award, which carries a €10,000.00 cash reward, will be formally presented to the Nigerian Catholic Bishop in Madrid next year on February 3.
The Executive Director of The Kukah Centre, Fr. Atta Barkindo, has congratulated Bishop Kukah for the win, saying that the award will inspire those working at the centre to do more to make the world a better place.
“We at the Kukah Centre are humbled by this show of appreciation of the contributions of the Founder of our Centre,” Fr. Atta says.
“While we congratulate our Founder, Bishop Kukah, we sincerely thank the initiators of this award,” the member of the Clergy of Nigeria’s Yola Diocese says.
He adds, “We promise that this award will spur us all to work even harder in promoting the ideals that Bishop Kukah represents to make the world a better place through the activities of the Kukah Centre.”
The Kukah Center has been lauded for promoting peace, justice, and equality. The Catholic entity does this by creating platforms for interfaith dialogue.