The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Rev. Father Mathew
Kukah, said he was shocked to hear what former President Muhammadu Buhari’s
ministers were saying about him and his government.
Kukah stated this in an interview on Arise Television on
Wednesday.
He said he has no personal grudge against the former
president.
“There was nothing I said about President Buhari that was
personal, that was disrespectful, I just felt he was doing things, that is,
especially in the area of managing our diversity and look;
“I’m talking to ministers now who served in that government;
I cannot call names. I am shocked to hear the kind of things people are saying
about those who served in that government; that is for another day,” he said.
According to him, the only problem he had with Buhari was
his inability to manage the country’s diversity.
Kukah was one of the fiercest critics of former President
Buhari and his administration.
The bishop claimed that the former president had made
Nigeria more vulnerable and succeeded in splitting the country.
He said, “Buhari has served his term. He also knew, and I
respect him for that, that there was nothing I was saying that was personal. I
imagined poor Adesina (Femi) and his team had a job to do and they needed to do
that job even though there was nothing to say.
“I will respect and I hope that Pastor Adesina knows that
there is a Foursquare Gospel Church in Daura, I believe that the President of
Foursquare Gospel Church should send him there as a Pastor so that he is quite
close to his Godfather.
“But having said that, I mean President Buhari had finished
his term and he is gone and there is very little else to be said for and
against. But everybody knew we had a job to do.”
After six months of President Bola Tinubu in power, he
stated that while the six months might be too short to rate a sitting
president, many expected him to hit the ground running, having prepared for the
race for over 20 years.
Kukah, however, stated that the leadership selection
structure “is so self-constraining.”
He said, “I am not making excuse for anybody, I am just
saying the very fact that you had to rely on governors to give you names of
Ministers and you rely on external agencies to be able to do things that
ordinarily you who is composing the team needs to be able to do.”
“I mean a court decides who is going to come in at what time
depending on the excuse that the person has. So, I totally agree with you that
by now you would have thought, ‘okay, this is what we want to do, this is who
can do it and this is how it needs to be done.”
The cleric however, said the best solution is to continue to
hold those in power responsible and they have no excuse not to perform.
Kukah said, “If you stand up to be elected and you are
elected, you must be prepared to face the consequences of that election, that
means we must constantly hold your feet to the fire.
“So that’s why I am saying institutions and instruments of
engagement must be in full glass. But also we must help to clarify public
policies by articulating the things that need to be done and where the country
needs to be heading,” he added.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com