The Bishop, Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Kukah, says
there is a need for President Muhammadu Buhari’s
ministers to publicly declare their assets just as Buhari did
last month.
Kukah, who is also a member of the National Peace
Committee, said this at an annual programme titled, “The
Platform,” which was organised by the Covenant Christian
Centre in Lagos, on Thursday.
He said, “Buhari has an opportunity now. I don’t think
many of you have been to Buhari’s house in Kaduna but I
have been there and I know what it looks like. You heard
about his declaration of assets. He must, therefore, make
minimum demands of moral conduct and probity from his
ministers. As Nigerians, we must ask ourselves what drives
corruption.
“Corrupt people are not necessarily bad people. A lot of
them are not bad people because they do a lot of good
things. But we live in a country where too many good people
are doing too many bad things.”
The cleric said Buhari must set standards for his ministers
on the kind of lifestyles they and their families must live.
He said for instance, it would be good if the President
demands that all the children of his ministers must school
in Nigeria.
Kukah added, “For me, if you are a minister of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, your children must have their
education in Nigeria. That will be good.”
While delivering his lecture titled, “Hysteria, euphoria and
amnesia: Nigeria’s long walk to freedom,” Kukah said
Nigeria had failed to develop because the country had
continued to make the same mistakes.
Defending his stance that ruling Nigeria should not be only
about jailing corrupt people, Kukah said all coups including
the first one of 1966 were perpetrated under the pretext of
fighting corruption.
He, therefore, argued that restructuring the system and
plugging all loopholes remains the best way to fight
corruption.
He said, “If you take the worst Nigerian President and
Americans are patient enough to vote for him and he rules
America for 20 years, he will not be able to steal up to
$50,000 no matter how long he rules because of the kind of
system that operates there.
“But if you take a British Prime Minister or American
President and make him the President of Nigeria, the
moment he wants to set up an anti-corruption agency, he
will have to bribe the National Assembly.”
Kukah said the proliferation of churches or mosques in a
country did not necessary imply that the nation would have
a high moral standard or development. He said unlike
Nigerian leaders, former South African President, Nelson
Mandela, was never seen in a church.
While comparing former President Olusegun Obasanjo with
Mandela, Kukah said the circumstances in the nation
prevented Obasanjo from being like Mandela.
He said, “Both of them went to prison and became
Presidents when they were released but we know that if
Mandela had gone to a Nigerian prison, he would have died
there.
“When Mandela came out of prison, there was a structure
in place. His party had been in existence since 1912. It had
a doctrine, discipline. When Mandela came out of prison on
February 11, 1990 and when he was approached, he said he
would have to consult with Oliver Thambo. Mandela was
already a party man.
“Compare this with President Obasanjo who came into power
through the PDP. Look at the circumstances of the
formation of the party. Mandela was also fortunate to
inherit an economic and bureaucratic system that had been
in place for long. Obasanjo inherited a system that was
severely weakened.”
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