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Nigerian Leaders Like Men In ‘Drunken Stupor’ – Kukah

Published

1 year ago

March 31, 2024

The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, on Sunday, said for over 60 years, Nigerian leaders have looked like men in a drunken stupor who stumble and fumble while searching for the way home.

Kukah, in his Easter message made available to newsmen, called on the Federal Government to come up with a robust template for how it wishes to reverse and put the country on a path of national healing.

He said, “Our leaders chose the feast rather than the fast. We are today reaping what we sowed yesterday. For over 60 years, our leaders have looked like men in a drunken stupor, staggering, stumbling and fumbling, slurring in speech, with blurred visions searching for the way home.

“The corruption of the years of a life of immoral and sordid debauchery has spread like cancer destroying all our vital organs. The result is a state of a hangover that has left our nation comatose.

“Notwithstanding, Easter is a time to further reflect on the road not taken. It is a time to see if this Golgotha of pain can lead us to the new dawn of the resurrection. Nigeria can and Nigeria will be great again. Let us ride this tide together in hope.”

As part of measures to curb the current economic woes and curtail hunger among the citizens, the bishop urged the government to come up with some urgent steps to put the nation on the path of healing.

These, he said, must include a deliberate policy of inclusion that will drastically end the immoral culture of nepotism.

He said, “The government must design a more comprehensive and wide-ranging method of recruitment that is transparent as a means of generating patriotism and reversing the ugly face of feudalism and prebendalism

“There is a need for a clear communications strategy that will serve to inspire and create timelines of expectations of results from policies.

“There is a need for clarity over questions of the who, what, when, and how national set goals are to be attained and who can be held accountable.”

The bishop added, “Second, the notion of rejigging the security architecture is a hackneyed cliché that is now at best, an oxymoron. It is difficult to fathom our current situation regarding the ubiquity of the military in our national life.

“It is impossible to explain how we can say we are in a civilian democracy with the military literally looking like an Army of occupation with an octopussean spread across all 36 states and Abuja.

“This has very serious consequences both for its professionalism, its integrity and perceived role in protecting society. No other person than the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, who recently referred to the military as facing the dilemma of what he called ‘see finish.’ It is now difficult to say whether the persistence of insecurity is a cause or a consequence of military ubiquity.

” Trillions of naira continue to go into bottomless pits with little measurable benefits. Our military’s professionalism cannot be diluted by the recruitment of hunters, vigilante groups, and other unprofessional and untrained groups.”

Kukah noted that “this is not sustainable because it leaves the military open to ridicule and perceptions of surrender. Fighting insecurity is now an enterprise. I believe our security men and women can defeat these criminals in a matter of months. All we hear and see are fingers pointing to the top. No, this must end.”

The bishop expressed delight that President Bola Tinubu recently announced that kidnapping and banditry are now to be treated as acts of terrorism.

“If so, we need to see a relentless and implacable plan to end this menace with a definite deadline for bringing these terrorists to their knees, no matter what it will take,” he said.

Kukah encouraged the President to continue on the path of probity, to take further steps to cut down the overbearing costs of governance and to put in place more comprehensive plans towards achieving both food and physical security across the country.

He said merely distributing money through already corruption-riddled structures is not enough and diminishes the dignity of citizens.

The cleric argued that no one needs to line up to receive aid when the nation is not in a war.

“Give our people back their farms and develop a comprehensive agricultural plan to put our country back on the path of honour and human dignity,” he said.

News

How Sound Sultan’s Death Affected My Music Career – Seyi Shay

Published

44 minutes ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

Nigerian singer and songwriter, Seyi Shay has opened up about the impact of her mentor, Sound Sultan’s death on her career.

She revealed that after Sound Sultan passed away in 2021, she lost the zeal to continue music.

Shay further explained that she became pregnant with her daughter around the same period, which also encouraged her to embark on a break due to the “toxic” nature of the music industry.

“During the filming of Nigerian Idol, my mentor, also my best friend, who is like a father figure to me, and also the person who brought me to the Nigerian music industry, died. He passed away; Sound Sultan,” Seyi Shay recalls in an interview with TVC.

“When I first came to Nigeria, I was living with him and his wife in FESTAC for a year. He was the one who co-signed me and introduced me to everybody in the industry to make sure that those who were his people look out for me.

“So, when he passed away, it was really hard for me to complete the filming but I made it to the end. What hurt the most is that I didn’t get to see him before he passed away. I was supposed to fly to see him in New York that weekend when we had a break. He asked me to bring him something specifically. It just torn me apart. I felt like I didn’t have the will to continue to do music without Sound Sultan, my peace of mind, and my mental health. So, I decided to go on a little break.

“Also, during that period, I got pregnant and I told myself there’s no way I’m going to have my child in the toxic music industry that I’m in and under the scrutiny that I was constantly under. So, I just thought I should take a break.”

News

Ondo Govt Suspends Three Senior Officials Over Recruitment Scam

Published

1 hour ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

Ondo State Government has suspended three senior officials for their alleged involvement in a recruitment scam tied to the recent employment of teachers in the state.

The affected officials, two directors and a deputy director, were suspended on the directive of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, pending the conclusion of an ongoing investigation into the job racketeering scandal.

Reports indicated that the officials allegedly collected between N500,000 and N700,000 from unsuspecting applicants, depending on their academic qualifications, in exchange for fraudulent appointment letters.

The matter came to public attention after several individuals staged a protest over their exclusion from the ongoing biometric verification exercise for newly recruited teachers. Investigations later revealed that many of the protesters had presented forged appointment documents.

In a statement issued by the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Prince Ebenezer Adeniyan, the government clarified that the aggrieved protesters were not among the over 2,000 teachers legitimately recruited and already deployed across the state.

Adeniyan disclosed that internal investigations confirmed that the three officials at the State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, had colluded with external collaborators to issue counterfeit appointment and posting letters to unsuspecting applicants in exchange for money.

“The attention of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa has been drawn to reports of a protest by individuals claiming they were unjustly excluded from the SUBEB recruitment process.

“To be clear, those protesters were not genuine employees but victims of fraud who were issued fake letters after paying money to scammers. They were exposed during biometric verification and informed that their documents were invalid.

“Disciplinary action has already been taken against the three SUBEB insiders found to have conspired with outsiders in defrauding applicants,” Adeniyan stated.

News

Unjust To Demand More Tax From Nigerians Amid Waste, Corruption — Moghalu

Published

1 hour ago

September 15, 2025

Editor

Former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Kingsley Moghalu, has described as unfair the demand for more taxes from Nigerians amid the profligacy and corruption by leaders.

Moghalu questioned how oil revenues and billions of dollars in borrowed funds had been spent, stressing that accountability must precede any fresh tax demands.

In a post on X on Sunday, the former CBN governor described Nigeria’s political class as “self-entitled elites” who lack transparency.

While acknowledging that tax reforms are broadly in the right direction, Moghalu insisted that without addressing corruption and waste in governance, the burden on ordinary Nigerians would remain unjust.

He said: “The profligacy and corruption in what passes for governance in our country, Nigeria, makes it unfair to expect citizens to pay any additional taxes. While taxes are an important part of the social contract, the question must first be asked: what have the revenues from oil and the numerous loans we have borrowed been spent on?

“Accountability is a core principle of governance. It does not exist with our self-entitled political elites. While the tax reform laws are broadly in a good direction, the core questions of accountability and transparency must be addressed. They haven’t.”