Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto and spokesperson of the National Peace Committee is one of the very few citizens that a lot of Nigerians could actually vouch for in terms of truthfulness and being consistently on the side of the people. Kukah, who was ordained a Catholic priest on December 19, 1976, is a fearless and vocal cleric who is not afraid to speak out his mind on burning national issues. Over the years, his influence on the nation’s socio-political landscape has refused to wane. His membership of the National Peace Committee, which played a significant role in diffusing the suffocating tension occasioned by the 2015 general elections that saw the ousting of former President Goodluck Jonathan from office, is a reflection of his growing stature in the nation’s socio-political scene. By and large, many Nigerians hold the priest in high esteem.
However, all that seems to have suddenly changed. The recent comment of the priest concerning the resolve of the Buhari-led administration to probe the activities of Jonathan’s administration has met with mixed reactions among Nigerians. The priest was recently quoted as saying that rather than being distracted by all the talks about probing the Jonathan administration, President Buhari should concentrate fully on governance. Taking a critical and holistic look at the cleric’s comment, it is clear that he holds ex-President Jonathan in great esteem, for the singular reason that the former president relinquished power after being defeated at the polls and as such Bishop Kukah feels he should not be ‘rubbished’.
Now, if the bishop’s chief reason for opposing the probe of the Jonathan administration is because the ex-president surrendered power to Buhari, it must then be affirmed that the cleric has gotten it wrong. In all sincerity, I do not share the view of those who would want to place the former president on a high horse simply because he lost an election and accepted defeat. The truth of the matter is that our psyche as a people has been seriously damaged because of the whole lot of aberrations and impunity that we have had to live with over the years. By flattering Jonathan for doing the right thing, we seem to be suggesting that he has other routes he could have followed. Did he actually have other options? In a constitutional democracy like ours, could the former president have actually declined to accede to defeat when it was obvious that he has lost an election fair and square? Turning him into a hero for doing the right thing is like celebrating a thief for deciding to let go of his loot. How awful!
It, therefore, doesn’t sound logical by any means, for the cleric and others that hold similar view to hinge their opposition to the probe of Jonathan’s administration solely on the simple reason that he abdicated power after losing an election. This sounds rather too simplistic. As if this line of reasoning is not laughable enough, the bishop’s assertion that Buhari shouldn’t distract himself from governance with his crusade against corruption is, to say the least, quite preposterous. Right from the outset, Buhari made anti-corruption crusade one of is most crucial agenda. Throughout his electioneering, he was always telling Nigerians that: “If we don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill us”. This, no doubt, highlights the obviously endemic nature of corruption in Nigeria.
It is being alleged in certain quarters that part of the deal that the National Peace Committee struck with Buhari in persuading Jonathan to concede defeat is that the former president would be shielded from probe. If, indeed, this is precisely the case, then the peace committee might inadvertently be working against the attainment of true peace in the country. Any deal that is struck to protect corruption could be nothing but a charade. There is, perhaps, no other social ill that has made a mess of our nation than corruption. The several policies and programmes of subsequent administrations in the country have not achieved desired results due to the deep-rooted nature of corruption among the various classes and groups in the country. Almost every sector in the country has been destroyed by corruption. We have spent billions of dollars on the power and oil sectors, with little noticeable improvement. Every direction one faces in the country, one is bound to see the evil hand of corruption.
It is, however, at the corridors of power that corruption has viciously bared its fangs. Nasir el-Rufai’s public service memoir, The Accidental Public Servant, appropriately illustrates the predominance of corruption in most public and private institutions in the country. Over the years, funds meant for the development of public infrastructure have been diverted by public officials and their cohorts for private use. The result is that a greater percentage of Nigerians has been consigned to a miserable life of incredible poverty, while very few who are entrusted with the commonwealth has continued to live in inconceivable opulence and affluence.
With the monumental havoc that corruption has done to our nation and its people, it doesn’t, therefore, sound rational for anyone to affirm that fighting this evil would distract Buhari from governance. If the issue of corruption is one of the major issues that Buhari and his government are able to confront frontally, our country would, undoubtedly, be the better for it. Presently, considering the president’s body language in respect of corruption, many public institutions and government officials are beginning to sense the signal and are already falling in line. This is what we need at this point in time. Enough of the rot of the past!
One major way through which corruption could be tackled in the country is to sanction corrupt officials and individuals as prescribed by the law of the land. The only thing that evil requires to triumph in any society is for evil to constantly go unpunished. It is morally wrong to allow corrupt public officials to enjoy and flaunt their loot while many Nigerians continue to bear the pains of their dastardly acts. This is not how to build a sane society where fairness, probity and equity reign.
In Habakkuk 1:4, the Bible affirms: “Therefore the law is slacked, and judgement doth never go forth: for the wicked doth surround the righteous; therefore perverse judgement proceeds.” Being a cleric who is conversant with the mind of God concerning dishonesty and perversion of justice, it is certain that Bishop Kukah wouldn’t wish for the nation to become a perpetual enclave of injustice and inequality. Enough of this distraction, let the probe begin!
• Ogunbiyi is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.