The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Dr. Matthew Hassan Kukah, has accused successive administrations in Nigeria of ‘systematic destruction of national policies.’
Speaking at the third annual conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP), Friday in Lagos, he said the systematic destruction of policies by Nigerian leaders was responsible for insecurity in the country.
Kukah, who spoke on the theme: ‘Economy, Security and National Development: The Way Forward’, insisted that “it is bad governance that is causing insecurity, not the other way round.
“From the presidency to councils, there is a general belief that things are not working in the country. Of course, efforts are being made to address insecurity but things are not working. When things are not working, the economy will not develop.
“We have a situation in which so much opportunity is seen beside so much poverty. That is a tragedy. We are pretty clear about our situation. Our situation is not about APC or PDP. It is about the collective interest of Nigeria.
“Since 1982 when I met former President Shehu Shagari, I have met every leader except General Sani Abacha for reasons best known to me. There is no Nigerian leader that Nigerians do not hate. That says something about our system.”
The Catholic cleric also accused the military of truncating democracy by not returning to the barracks after the civil war ended in 1970.
“If the military had returned to the barracks in 1970 after the civil war, things would have been better. The decision by the military to stay after the civil war decapitated the Nigerian political class.
“The military left in 1979, came back in 1983 and eventually left in 1999. By the time it left in 1999, all the patriotic politicians had grown old. That is why we have some young people who do not have second address in politics today.”
To boost the economy, he advised members of the National Assembly to give up half of their salaries running into millions of naira.
To him, if that is done, thousands of Nigerians would be employed at N92, 000 per month.
