Kukah: No Eligible Voter Should Be Undecided
Wants leaders to be held responsible for violence
Alex Enumah in Abuja
Influential cleric and Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Mathew kukah, yesterday wondered why any Nigerian of voting age should be undecided in the forthcoming general elections.
Kukah observed that the failings of previous administrations as well as the current one notwithstanding, Nigerians must come out to decide who rule them in the next four years.
The cleric spoke as guest on Channels Television programme, Politics Today.
According to him, no Nigerian currently facing insecurity, joblessness, hunger amongst myriads of problems confronting the country should be undecided.
“Why will anybody be undecided about hunger, why will anybody be undecided about insecurity, why anybody be undecided about the fact that they don’t seem to know where the next meal will come from, why will anybody be undecided over the fact that there are no jobs”, he said.
Kukah, who noted that his criticism of the President Muhammadu Buhari admini-stration is not personal but borne out of the need to help the nation overcome some of her challenges, called for vigorous efforts at changing the narrative of voter apathy.
He advised the electorate to look beyond the fanfare of political campaigns and vote candidate they know has what it takes to fix Nigeria.
While observing that there is nothing like a right choice in the election of leaders because there is bound to be a shift between campaign promises and real governance, the cleric challenged civil society, religious bodies and others to be prepared to engage leaders once they are voted into power.
He blamed some of the nation’s problem on the absence of political culture and disregard for the country’s Constitution.
“The kind of discipline required to build political culture does not exist in Nigeria”, he said, adding that, “if the Constitution is the supreme law can you slaughter somebody because he or she has offended your culture or offended your religion and get away with it? It is not possible.”
He lamented that in most part of the country there is hardly government presence, a situation responsible for voter apathy.
According to him, no voter would be willing to die when there are no consequences for those who take the lives of others.
Similarly, while associating the increase of banditry to the absence of leadership and nepotism, Kukah observed that the current political system, which rewards people directly is responsible for the increase in violence in the country.
Kukah, who noted that Buhari has barely few months in office, charged Nigerians to take the elections seriously, stressing that “it takes more than good intentions” to bring the nation to where it ought to be.
He stated that because the Nigerian political elite does not appreciate the complexity of the Nigerian situation, it is unable to proffer any meaningful solution.
He described as insulting situations where politicians point to bridges and roads as part of the dividend of democracy delivered to the people.
While stating that politicians making promises as well as those receiving such promises know that there are no intentions to fulfill such promises, he noted that there will be a little bit of excitement to see that people have what it takes to fix Nigeria.
