News
Past Nigerian presidents came to power unprepared, says Bishop Kukah
By Alao Abiodun
The Bishop of the Archdiocese of Sokoto, Matthew Kukah, has stated that men who have ruled the country since independence came to power without being prepared to solve the nation’s challenges.
Kukah spoke at a virtual session moderated by Toyin Falola, a professor of history at the University of Texas, titled “Cast without a plot,” monitored by The Nation.
He said, “Buhari had already said after he tried in 2011 ‘I’m done. I’m no longer interested.’ Yar’Adua had already said ‘I’m done. I want to go back to the classroom.’ Obasanjo was brought from prison to (become president)”
Kukah further stated that the unpreparedness of past leaders limited their ability to plan and “think about how they might resolve the problems of the country.”
“What passes for governance is digging a whole to fill a hole because you borrow money to win elections and you see that there is a correlation between the spiral of awarding of contracts and the contracts not being finished,”
READ ALSO: Bishop Kukah’s ‘attack’ on Islam
Speaking on the issue of insecurity in the country, the bishop said Nigerians are angry about the situation adding that it is not too much to ask for security as it is the government’s responsibility.
On the aftermath of the #EndSARS protests, Kukah warned the government “to take the street seriously” because that’s where the people reside.
“The challenge is for us to create a conducive environment and this is why I worry about this government because the government has not created a narrative those points in a direction that we should be going. We don’t expect the president to do everything, we are not expecting angels, but it is that a nation has to survive on a vision about where we are going and how we are going to get there. But when you raise this question, people begin to think that you are an enemy of the state or that you are inciting citizens,” he said.
