NIGERIA, Dec. 1 -- For more than three decades, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah has stood at the centre of Nigeria's public life, part priest, part intellectual, part civic conscience. He has spoken truth to power, comforted victims, challenged governments, and offered commentary that has shaped national conversations. Yet it is precisely this long-standing proximity to the political elite that now raises a pressing question. Can any cleric engage this deeply with Nigeria's ruling class and remain untouched by the weight of that association?

Nigeria's political environment is not neutral terrain. It is a place where proximity alters perception, shapes relationships, and gradually shifts the tone of even the most principled voices. The issue,...