The Bishop of the Sokoto Diocese of the Catholic Church, Bishop Mathew Kukah while speaking during an event held in Ibadan has advised the President, Muhammadu Buhari, on what to do with recovered loots.
The Cleric spoke on Tuesday as a guest of the book readers’ club of the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy. He urged the Federal Government to spend the recovered loots on projects that will directly impact citizens of the country.
The Catholic Bishop during the event described corruption as a symptomatic sign of the sickness plaguing the country. He further expressed worry at the channel the Federal Government is employing in the fight against corruption adding that the masses are behaving as if the fight is not for the benefit of all.x
He said: “Corruption is a symptom of sickness. What that sickness means is, almost or the total absence of government influence and impact on the lives of ordinary Nigerians. This is just another name for corruption. It is very bad that there are no processes.
“It is over one year, we have still not started the trial of people who misappropriated the $2.1bn. We still have over $198bn to find since the President (Muhammadu Buhari) himself confirmed that about $200bn has gone through corruption.
“So, to me, it is a question of strategy, a question of thinking, a question of rethinking and a question of defining our objectives. Nigerians have to become convinced that the proceeds of corruption will be to the benefit of their own lives. If they don’t get that fact, it won’t earn their support. So far, we are behaving like fighting corruption is the business of one man.
“There are people in power who believe they are not accountable to the people, but everybody should know now that the solution to our problem does not lie in anybody threatening anybody with a coup.”