Kukah Says Effective Leadership Has Nothing To Do With Religious Background

Bishop-Matthew-Hassan-KukahThe Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Rt. Rev. Matthew Kukah, on Wednesday, said that respect for the rule of law remained the greatest way to achieving peace in Nigeria.

He made the disclosure in a keynote address at the second annual “U.S Alumni Leadership” conference in Abuja.

Kukah said “peace is not something that God merely offers to us, but a possibility, a dream, a vision and a hope.

“It is not a final destination or some state of novena where we can sleep because the world’s problems are all gone.

“It is a permanent state of work where one generation hopes it can create conditions that enable the next generation to manage its problems effectively without recourse to violence and lawlessness”.

According to him, the greatest peace is when everyone lives under the law and breakers of the law get punished accordingly.

On the challenge of leadership in the country, the catholic bishop urged Nigerians to stop blaming politicians alone for the ineffectiveness of the law in Nigeria.

He urged Nigerians not to elect leaders based on their religious backgrounds, saying effective leadership had nothing to do with a leader’s religious background but his or her ability to respect the rule of law.

“I do not care whether a president is God-fearing or not because God does not have a ballot and it is not God that will vote.

“We are the ones who will vote for our new leaders and for now, a leader is accountable to us, and the leader will settle with God,’’ he said.

He decried the falling standard of education in the country and condemned the action of some parents who encouraged their children to engage in examination malpractice.

He said “it is impossible to hope that our nation will change if education, the bedrock of any society, fall victim to manipulation, neglect and derision”. (NAN)