The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Kukah is advocating for ministers children to school in Nigeria but with a proviso while urging President Muhammadu Buhari to send public officials found guilty of embezzlement to prison.
He also said the President should set minimum standard of human behaviour for ministers that would be named in his cabinet.
Kukah, who spoke at “The Platform” – a programme organised by the Covenant Christian Centre, Lagos on Thursday on the topic “Nigeria: Euphoria, Hysteria and Dementia, still a Long Walk to Freedom,” said very little had changed in 55 years of Nigeria’s independence from the British colonial masters.
He said, “On the fight against corruption, whether it involves trials or people going to prison, Buhari has an opportunity now. He must set minimum standard of moral behaviour for his ministers.
“Every past government in Nigeria promised to fight corruption, but left us worse than where they met us. Every government must have an opposition of itself, not of politics and political pasts. We need to set minimum standards of human behaviour that are acceptable to us as individuals for our leaders.
“The idea that once you become a governor or minister, several monarchs will start giving you traditional titles should stop. That is where corruption starts. The idea that because you are a minister, you have to turn your children’s wedding to state functions should stop.
“Every minister’s children should get their education in Nigeria, except if they already have the money and their children are already there. There should be measures to fight corruption if we are really serious about it.”
Meanwhile, a professor of economics, Pat Utomi, who was also at the event, said one of the ways the government could create economic prosperity for Nigerians is to decentralise the Central Bank of Nigeria into regional central banks.