Nigerian leaders are most reckless in the world – Kukah

The Bishop of Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Bishop Matthew Kukah, on Friday, described Nigerian leaders as the most reckless with power in the world.

Also, Kukah  described Nigerian Presidents as the most reckless saying no President can be as irresponsible as that of Nigeria across the country of the world.

Speaking while delivering the annual lecture to mark the Ulefunta/Oyemekun festival in Akure,
titled -“Building Blocks For A Good Society”, held at the Theodore Idibiye Francis Hall of Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) in Ondo state.

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The cleric said Nigerian leaders are irresponsible with the use of power and give little or attention to the welfare of the people.

According to him, the structure of the Nigerian presidential office makes the holders of the office to be too powerful and can easily deploy power the way he wants, unlike the structure of American, where its President never emerged  through circumstance.

He said: “No president in the world has the kind of power the Nigerian president has and as such, no president in the world can be as irresponsible as the Nigerian president,

“His power is so much that he can give oil bloc to his girlfriend and many others. You, thus, can’t be a man of honour and live in a country like Nigeria and not be angry.

“What is the problem? It is the dilemma of leadership. In America, there are basic expectations of what  a president should be. For instance, he must have gone through Harvard as an institution, he must have language and track record, not even wealth. You can’t surprise the system.

“Here in Nigeria, a local government chairman wants to be governor; the governor wants to be president and the president doesn’t want to go! Many states have two governors representing them at the National Assembly. Governors have control and monopoly of resources of state and they use same resources to oppress them. ”

Kukah noted that the challenges confronting the nation today can be traced to the country system and said “In Nigeria, it is not a question of looking for trouble because trouble is already here.

“The Nigerian state has no capacity to protect itself and there is no loyalty to Nigeria from its citizens but to those who help individuals to get to positions in the system. ”

Kukah, however, singled out two former Nigerian leaders from the president predicament the nation found itself, saying Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Aminu Kano, remain “architects of a good society”.

He said: “Awolowo, for his major quintessential evidence as somebody who already figured out what he would do with power if he got it,” he said.

“He understood the building blocks for an egalitarian society. Aminu Kano single handedly took on the feudal class in Northern society and had a deep understanding of society, even as he textually talked about a free society in a way and manner that didn’t offend religion.

“We have to understand the building blocks of society which is not too different from the rules of building a house. A good society is not different from the building blocks of society. When a building collapses, it didn’t collapse in a day. It began to collapse a long time ago. For us to build a good society, we have to have eyes that monitor the needs, growth and development and feelings of that society. Then you can be sure of the quality of that society. “

Also speaking, the Chairman of the lecture, Chief Olu Falae said restructuring remains the only solution to resolve the myriads of problems confronting the Nigeria nation  saying it would resolve some of the abuse of office by the President.

The Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Ogunlade Aladelusi, called on the people to join hands in building a good society for self examination and action towards transformation.

“Nigeria cannot continue like this and there must be a good change in the country while our people should join hands together to build a good society.

“As people we will keep building the blocks of change within ourselves, using our tradition and heritage to promote peace and unity.”