Bishop Kukah Speaks On Why Nigeria’s Governance Problem Hasn’t Been Solved

The bishop of the archdiocese of Sokoto, Matthew Kukah, has said that the delivery of governance in the country has been stalled due to “accidental leadership” with no proper succession plans.

He said the men who have ruled the country since independence came to power without being prepared to solve the nation’s challenges.

“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),” he said.

Mr Kukah spoke Sunday at a virtual session titled “Cast without a plot,” where he fielded questions from panelists on the issues around governance, leadership, develop-ment and security in the country. The event was moderated by Toyin Falola, a professor of history at the University of Texas,

He noted that the unpreparedness of the nation’s past leaders limits their ability to plan and “think about how they might resolve the problems of the country. This is what accounts for corruption in the system.” He blamed this on the collapse of institutions, the difficulty to thrive outside of government and for meritocracy to thrive without political patronage.

“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,” he explained.