"Nigerians now behaving like orphans, no one to turn to"

The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Most Rev. Matthew Kukah, has noted that Nigerians are now behaving like orphans.

 

Kukah said this while urging the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to pay closer attention to decay of vital institutions in the country. 

The cleric spoke at the 2017 lecture/award ceremony organised by the Epiphany Azinge Foundation, in Abuja.

He insisted that the rot in key institutions in the country, especially universities, was a major factor why the image of the country collapsed before the international community.

According to him, Nigeria would not move forward if those in leadership positions continued to sacrifice merit on the alter of tribalism and nepotism.

The bishop who was supposed to speak on the theme, “Nigeria in search of a detribalised race,” said he decided to change the topic to “From tribalisation to retribalisation: Politics of identity and national cohesion in Nigeria.”

He said “the collapse of the Nigerian image did not happen in isolation. We must measure it against the backdrop of the collapse of some institutions of prestige like the universities.”

Kukah pointed out that youths in the country had become disillusioned to the point that they were willing to travel abroad even at the risk of losing their lives.

He added, “At the bottom of what I am saying is the need for us to find out why Nigerians disobey rules? Why is it that we are so unnameable to keeping the rules? There must be a reason for this.

“The issue is that we are constantly asking what is in it for me. It is a selfish question. People accuse politicians of being selfish, but selfishness is embedded in politics because when a man says vote for me and not the other persons he is already saying I am better.

“Tribalisation is arising because of the inefficiency of the Nigerian system. It is not so much a question of how much sermons we preach, the fact of the matter is that we have outsourced our responsibilities. That is why we are at the point that we are now.

“Nigerians are now behaving like orphans. We have nobody to turn to.”