Don’t put all your hopes in Buhari, Bishop Kukah tells Nigerians

The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah on Tuesday advised Nigerians not to not put all their hopes in President Muhammadu, and believing that he would solve all the problems facing the country.

He also said unless Mr. Buhari makes his anti-corruption war extensive enough to cover other acts of indiscipline, the desired changes in the country would not be achieved.

He said instead of narrowing the war to financial corruption alone, it should be a complete war on all acts of indiscipline affecting all facets of national life.

The bishop also urged Nigeria to raise the bar of leadership by setting standards for those that would rise to leadership positions as a veritable weapon to turn around the country’s political and educational systems.

Delivering a lecture on Tuesday, entitled “Education and Leadership Recruitment for a Plural Society: A Case for Nigeria”, at Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, at the 3rd Convocation Ceremony of the institution, Mr. Kukah said the fight against corruption initiated by Mr. Buhari was a noble one that should be supported by all Nigerians.

He however argued that “Fighting corruption alone may not guarantee us a stable nation. We must include the culture of entrenchment and protection of social justice and the rule of law to be part of our national live.

“So, Nigeria should not put all their hopes in Buhari. They should not think that once Buhari has started fighting corruption the entire system will be sanitized and everything will work for good or change.”

On the education sector, Mr. Kukah noted that the distortion of the country’s nationhood partly resulted from people circumventing the process through “connections to high places.”

According to him, the distortions and damage of Nigeria’s national identity are not unconnected with long years of colonialism and military rule.

Mr. Kukah argued that for the country to get it right, the education sector must serve as a basis for transformation of values and a positive generational change capable of launching Nigeria into the league of the most developed nations of the world.

“A distorted society cannot expect the reward of a decent society. Happily for us in Nigeria, we are turning a new page.

“We must therefore not be seduced into thinking that we should hand over our
hope, our dream and our aspiration to President Buhari and go to sleep,” he said.

“Corruption is a symptom of the disease of the distortion of our nationhood. We may have a transparent election but the most perfect electoral outcome does not translate to the right result.

“When people receive the licence to govern, what does it mean to them and what do they do with it? We must acknowledge the opportunity of the concession of defeat by (former) President Jonathan , we need institutions that can save voters from the excesses of the Nigerian politicians.

“As a country, we must have succession plan, we must have capacity for succession and the institutional capacity to recruit the future leaders and we must create opportunities for young Nigerians to rise to the highest office in the land.

The lecture was chaired by the former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega and was attended by the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, Ado Ibrahim, the founder of the university, Afe Babalola, and other important personalities.