The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Matthew Kukah, has said the continuous division of the country into states and local government areas is jeopardising the unity of Nigeria.
Kukah said Nigeria was seeking unity in division.
He spoke in Uyo on Wednesday during the annual Interdenominational thanksgiving service organised by the state government on the theme, 'The Lord is our strength'.
He noted that Nigeria could not claim or seek to achieve unity when its constituent parts continued to agitate for the creation of more states and local government areas.
He decried the inequality in the sharing of available resources, adding that if the resources were shared equally, people would not wallow in abject poverty.
He said, "Although God is our father, the resources He has placed at our disposal are not being equitably shared the way we want, otherwise, we won't be wallowing in poverty. The essence of government and governance is to ensure that the resources that God has given to us is used to give us a good life.
"When we live in a country like Nigeria where too many poor people live together with the rich, then something must be done to redress the situation. I therefore call on you not to see politics as being about self enrichment, but purely as an instrument in the hands of God for good Christians to deliver the services and trust that God has given to them.
"I think from what I see and what I have heard people say, many of you have reasons for being great but the material prosperity is never the measure of the greatness of a nation."
The cleric commended Governor Godswill Akpabio for the "judicious use of state resources", and advised that there should be a correlation between the spirit of fairness, justice and peace, as lack of peace would lead to lack of justice in the midst of increasing inequality.
Akpabio said the annual thanksgiving was designed to consecrate and dedicate the state to God. He called for unity in the state.
He said, "We may have differences but such differences should be in means not ends, they should be in roads not destinations, they should be in premises not conclusions. No one part of this state should seek to put another part down."
