Why Buhari, Jonathan, Obasanjo Failed As Nigeria’s Presidents – Bishop Kukah

The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Kukah has attributed the failures of successive presidents of Nigeria to a lack of preparations.

Speaking at a Channels Television programme, Roadmap 2023, Kukah said President Muhammadu Buhari and former Presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Olusegun Obasanjo among others, were not prepared for the rigorous task of leading the country.

The cleric used the analogy of a bad marriage to explain the relationship between Nigeria and its political leaders since independence about 63 years ago.

He said, “You can go all the way down in Nigeria, you’re not going to find one single person who has been President or Head of State in Nigeria that came prepared for the job.

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

“A lot of these changes that we have seen in Nigeria are largely unprogrammed.

“Military coups by themselves that stretched over 20 years were just glorified banditry and armed robbery because you pull the gun and became a Head of State.

“If I take you back, we have President Buhari now. 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 (Goodluck) Jonathan. Jonathan himself, you know the circumstances that brought him to power. (Umar) Yar’Adua before him; Yar’Adua was already saying, ‘I’m done, I want to go back to teach in the university.

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

“Abdulsalami was about to be retired from the military when (General Sani) 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.”

KanyiDaily recalls that Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah had recently advised Christians to make wise decisions in electing politicians in the 2023 general election.