Father Kukah’s Expensive Faux Pas
Following the violence that greeted the 2011 general elections, the 2015 elections rightly drew attention from everywhere. The 2011 elections saw hundreds of Nigerians stream to their early graves owing to avoidable violence, and properties worth millions of naira were equally destroyed. To forestall the recurrence of this ugly incident, all hands were on deck during the 2015 elections to ensure a peaceful election.
The US, through its secretary ofstates ,John Kerry, rang it to the ears of the major contenders that nothing short of a peaceful transition and a free and fair election would be accepted. Also, Nigerian had (still have)a peace committee to ensure a transition election devoid of violence. Today, the 2015 elections have been lost andwon, and the rest as they say is history.
During his campaign for the nation’s highest office, president MuhammaduBuhari(PMB) was very clear about his agenda for Nigeria. Apart from trumpeting the CHANGE mantra, he promised to fight corruption andinsurgency.And he subsequently rode on the crest of integrity to power –an attribute the president of the most powerful country in the world ,Barrack Obama attested to.
Almost three months into PMB’s tenure he has so far given a good account of himself ,especially in his approach to combating terrorism and the fight against corruption .Of interest are the steps he has taken to bring sanity to the civil service by insisting that audit queries are answered ,and the plan to probe revenue generating agencies by engaging the services KPMG and PWC.worthy of note is the fight against oil theft and the step he has taken so far to get the financial institutions and countries where proceeds from stolen crude oil were deposited with a view to repatriating them back to Nigeria .
Infaraway United States, Buhari shocked many Nigerians when he revealed that some $150billion dollarshad been stolen in the last decade! It is mindboggling.Of course,it is no longer news that some ministers in former president Jonathan’s cabinet were alleged to have stashed some billions of dollars in foreign accounts.Buhari added that there are documents to nail those who have corruptly enriched themselves through illegal sales of our crude oil,especially in the last administration.
Now, here is the dilemma. Should Buhari look away and forget about our stolen wealth even when he claimed he had documents to nail those whopurloined our collective wealth simply because he reportedly promiseda certain peace committee not to ‘’embarrass ‘’ Jonathan? Or just must move on when evidence of graft stare him annoyingly in the face because he promised not to probe the last administration? I say NO. No responsible leader does that. A Probe is not a death sentence.Everything must be done within the ambit of the law to recover all that financial terrorists looted.
This is why I don’t agree with the recent pronouncements and the’’ body language’’ of the peace committee led by Gen. AbdulsalamiAbubakar with Father kukah as its spokesperson.For instance ,on August 13th2015, Father kukahon Channels TV said,‘’…even if Goodluck Jonathan stole all the money ,that he allowed for a peaceful transition is enough reason for president Buhari to spare him of probe’’.Father kukah got it all wrong.
Ordinarily, I should be shocked like most Nigerians who have spent valuable time listening over and over again to the statement made by the man they hold in high esteem, but nothing shocks me anymore in this country,especially when it concerns a servant of God. While father kukah is entitled to his opinion, buthe must also be told that Mr Jonathan did not make Buhari president.More than fifteen million angry Nigerians queued in the sun and rain because they see in Buhari a man who will lead them across the red sea like biblical Moses. His integrity and tough anti-corruptionstance were his strongest selling points. So, we can say Buhari had his job description before he was even employed by his employers (angry Nigerians). It is not forFather Kukah or Gen. AbdulSalami to tell PMB to face his job when he’s perfectly doing the job angry Nigerians (his employers) employed him to do.
Without any whiff of doubt, corruption and has dealt our progress as a nation a big blow. And how do you tackle corruption without probing the administration that is arguably the most corrupt government since our return to civil rule even when trails that suggest wrongdoing abound? To encourage the current government in its fight against graft, president Obama of the US pledged to lend support to the current government in its efforts to recover every stolen cent. In fact, Obama hinted that he had directed relevant agencies and institutions to assist Nigeria in that regard.
Now that our father in cassock does not want Jonathan(or is it his administration?) probed, should we also tell the US we are no longer interested in getting back our stolen funds? Buhari must choose between the voice of the angry and cheated Nigerians that elected him and the privilegentsia who prefer the old order. Only Buhari can decide his place in history.
Ladesopen Ladelokun, Mowe, Ogun State.