Buhari’s Ministers Must Declare Their Assets Publicly – Kukah

   

The Bishop, Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew

Kukah, says there is a need for President

Muhammadu Buhari’s ministers to publicly declare

their assets just as Buhari did last month.

Kukah, who is also a member of the National

Peace Committee, said this at an annual

programme titled, “The Platform,” which was

organised by the Covenant Christian Centre in

Lagos, on Thursday.

He said, “Buhari has an opportunity now. I

don’t think many of you have been to Buhari’s

house in Kaduna but I have been there and I

know what it looks like. You heard about his

declaration of assets. He must, therefore, make

minimum demands of moral conduct and

probity from his ministers. As Nigerians, we

must ask ourselves what drives corruption.

“Corrupt people are not necessarily bad people.

A lot of them are not bad people because they

do a lot of good things. But we live in a country

where too many good people are doing too

many bad things.”

The cleric said Buhari must set standards for his

ministers on the kind of lifestyles they and

their families must live.

He said for instance, it would be good if the

President demands that all the children of his

ministers must school in Nigeria.

Kukah added, “For me, if you are a minister of

the Federal Republic of Nigeria, your children

must have their education in Nigeria. That will

be good.”

While delivering his lecture titled, “Hysteria,

euphoria and amnesia: Nigeria’s long walk to

freedom,” Kukah said Nigeria had failed to

develop because the country had continued to

make the same mistakes.

Defending his stance that ruling Nigeria should

not be only about jailing corrupt people, Kukah

said all coups including the first one of 1966

were perpetrated under the pretext of fighting

corruption.

He, therefore, argued that restructuring the

system and plugging all loopholes remains the

best way to fight corruption.

He said, “If you take the worst Nigerian

President and Americans are patient enough to

vote for him and he rules America for 20 years,

he will not be able to steal up to $50,000 no

matter how long he rules because of the kind of

system that operates there.

“But if you take a British Prime Minister or

American President and make him the

President of Nigeria, the moment he wants to

set up an anti-corruption agency, he will have

to bribe the National Assembly.”

Kukah said the proliferation of churches or

mosques in a country did not necessary imply

that the nation would have a high moral

standard or development. He said unlike

Nigerian leaders, former South African

President, Nelson Mandela, was never seen in a

church.

While comparing former President Olusegun

Obasanjo with Mandela, Kukah said the

circumstances in the nation prevented Obasanjo

from being like Mandela.

He said, “Both of them went to prison and

became Presidents when they were released but

we know that if Mandela had gone to a

Nigerian prison, he would have died there.

“When Mandela came out of prison, there was a

structure in place. His party had been in

existence since 1912. It had a doctrine,

discipline. When Mandela came out of prison

on February 11, 1990 and when he was

approached, he said he would have to consult

with Oliver Thambo. Mandela was already a

party man.

“Compare this with President Obasanjo who

came into power through the PDP. Look at the

circumstances of the formation of the party.

Mandela was also fortunate to inherit an

economic and bureaucratic system that had

been in place for long. Obasanjo inherited a

system that was severely weakened.”

Source:- Punch