Military coups were just glorified banditry, armed robbery – Kukah

 The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Dr. Matthew Hassan Kukah, has berated Nigerian leaders, who he said came to power without preparation, or understanding of the country’s problems and solutions to them. He said that military coups were just glorified banditry and armed robbery since soldiers merely pull the gun and become head of state.

Bishop Kukah, speaking on Channels Television, asserted: “in the sense that military coups by themselves that stretch over a 20-year period were just glorified banditry and armed robbery because you pull the gun and became a head of state.”

The Catholic Bishop emphasised that in the 62 years history of Nigeria, both the democratic and military governments, no president or head of state came into office prepared to provide the desired government.

Kukah had maintained: “You can go all the way down in Nigeria, you are not going to find one single person who has been president or head of state in Nigeria that came prepared for the job.”

It was highlighted that Nigeria from independence on October 1, 1960, has been governed 16 leaders, who include eight civilian presidents/prime minister and eight military heads of state.  The civilian leaders include Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (1960-1966), presidents Nnamdi Azikiwe (1963-1966), Shehu Shagari (1979-1983); head of interim national government, Ernest Shonekan (August to November 1993); then, presidents Olusegun Obasanjo (1999-2007), Umaru Yar’Adua (2007-2010), Goodluck Jonathan (2010-2015), and Muhammadu Buhari (2015-2023).

The military heads of state include Major-General Aguiyi Ironsi (January to July 1966), General Yakubu Gowon (1966-1975), General Murtala Muhammed (1975-1976), General Olusegun Obasanjo (1976-1979), Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (1983-1985), General Ibrahim Babangida (1985-1993), General Sani Abacha (1993-1998), and General Abdulsalami Abubakar (1998-1999).

Kukah was of the view that the solution of a bad marriage is not new marriage.

According to him, “I always say to people as a priest that the solution to a bad marriage is not a new marriage. It is often an attempt to look at what has gone wrong. And if you jump to a new marriage very quickly, after some time, you become nostalgic about the first marriage.

“Metaphorically, you can say the same thing about Nigeria. A lot of these changes that we have seen in Nigeria are largely unprogrammed.”

The bishop emphasised that going back as far as the 1960s through the entire leadership history from prime minister or president to beneficiaries of military coups, there has been no “linearity”.

He stated: “There has been nothing linear. In the sense that military coups by themselves that stretch over a 20-year period were just glorified banditry and armed robbery because you pull the gun and became a head of state.”

Kukah asserted that Nigeria is yet to produce an executive president who is prepared for office.

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The bishop highlighted: “If I take you back, we have President Buhari now. President Buhari already in 2011 had said, ‘I don’t want to be president again, I’m tired.’ He was literally pulled out screaming to be president in 2015.

“He took over from Jonathan. Jonathan, himself, you know the circumstances that brought him to power. Yar’Adua before him; Yar’Adua was already saying, ‘I’m done, I want to go back to teach in the university.’”

He noted that unpreparedness also reflected in former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

According to Kukah, “Obasanjo was in prison hoping that one day, he would walk out of prison, and if he’s strong enough, he would go back to his farm. You can go on and on.

“Abdulsalami was about to be retired from the military when Abacha died and he became head of state. If we’re to return to the scene of the crime, that’s where you have to go back to.”

Kukah, therefore, articulated that there is the need for leadership springing from individuals taking the time to understand the problems of Nigeria and planning accordingly.

The Catholic Bishop expressed concerns “figuring out why we don’t have electricity, and figuring out why we don’t have roads, why are we so chaotic, that is, away from the shadows of governance and politics. Just thinking through whether it is by way of a retreat.”

He declared that a government will achieve results if it comes through with seminars and conferences that produce an aggregate of answers and possible suggestions alongside a database of potential appointees with the required capacity.

Channels TV