Ebun Francis || The Catholic bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah on Tuesday said that Nigeria does not need a God-fearing leader to solve her problems.
The respected Bishop made the disclosure at the launch of the book ‘The Shadow List’ written by Dr. Todd Moss.
According to Kukah, ”fighting corruption and fixing Nigeria requires more than a God-fearing leader”.
Kukah said, “I have said it severally; let Nigerians keep saying they want a God-fearing leader.”
“Nigeria does not need a God-fearing leader because God-fearing has become an excuse to appeal to Nigerians and win elections.
“Governance in Nigeria is a criminalized enterprise and a criminalized state cannot progress; so we must come to terms as to why it is that this country is in such low portion.
“Fixing this country requires much more than that; national cohesion, holding our country together is the most fundamental project if we are to fix this nation.
“This is what we need because I am aware of how angry and frustrated Nigerians have become, especially in an environment where people are intrinsically not concerned about corruption but about their inability to access.”
The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto dioceses noted that whereas it is wonderful to talk about fighting corruption, it is equally important to diagnose the environment “as to why and how about corruption”.
“If you know Nigerians well, rather than thinking about the solution to the problem, we are waiting for a few men who govern Nigeria to tell us they have found a silver bullet and then we all gather around”, he said.
“We will now pass through the motion pretending to be conducting election when as it is from 1999, we always have an idea of who the president will be even before the election is conducted.”
Kukah said quite a number of Nigerians had decided to make peace with the situation because they had decided that “the building called corruption is too big for them to break down”.
He advocated for the building of systems and institutions which if not done will continue to leave citizens, whether Christians or Muslims, feeling the way they are currently feeling.