By Matthew Don
Matthew Hassan Kukah, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, has told the national assembly members to give up part of their salaries running into millions of naira as their contribution in boosting Nigeria’s economy.
The jumbo take home pay of the two NASS members has been a source of concern to many Nigerians who complain it is a big drain on the country’s lean purse and should be reduced.
Kukah spoke in Lagos on Friday at the third annual conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) where he also accused successive administrations of the country of “systematic destruction of national policies.”
Kukah said systematic destruction of policies by Nigerian leaders was responsible for insecurity in the country.
He spoke on the theme: “Economy, Security and National Development: The Way Forward.”
According to Kukah, “it is bad governance that is causing insecurity, not the other way round.”
He said: “From the presidency to councils, there is a general belief that things are not working in the country. Of course, efforts are being made to address insecurity but things are not working. When things are not working, the economy will not develop.
“We have a situation in which so much opportunity is seen beside so much poverty. That is a tragedy.
“We are pretty clear about our situation. Our situation is not about APC or PDP. It is about the collective interest of Nigeria.
“Since 1982 when I met former President Shehu Shagari, I have met every leader except General Sani Abacha for reasons best known to me. There is no Nigerian leader that Nigerians do not hate. That says something about our system.”
Kukah reiterated the role of the military in government and accused the personnel of truncating democracy by not returning to barracks after the civil war ended in 1970.
His words: “If the military had returned to the barracks in 1970 after the civil war, things would have been better. The decision by the military to stay after the civil war decapitated the Nigerian political class.
“The military left in 1979, came back in 1983 and eventually left in 1999. By the time it left in 1999, all the patriotic politicians had grown old. That is why we have some young people who do not have second address in politics today.”
Insisting that the national assembly should surrender part of their pay, Kukah said if that was done, thousands of Nigerians would be employed with relatively good pay of N92,000 per month.
President Muhammadu Buhari who was represented by Femi Adesina, his special adviser on media and publicity, said growing the economy and addressing security challenges were tasks in progress.
Buhari said no nation could boast of having totally achieved both, advising that Nigerians must do away with cynicism and join the government to re-position the country.
Buhari said: “We need to believe more, cooperate more and also pray for our leaders if we want Nigeria to succeed. We need to be grateful to God for where we are. There are countries who have not gone through what we have gone through that are worse off today.
“The fact that Nigeria remains a united country is a success. Good works are going on and we need to support our leaders for Nigeria to get to where we want it to be.”