How Nigeria Missed Its Path To Greatness After 1960 – Bishop Kukah

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah, says Nigeria missed a historic opportunity to attain a strong and united nation after independence because of a lack of visionary leadership, the trauma of political assassinations, and the destructive role military rule played in the political history of the country.

Kukah made this revelation while speaking on Arise Television’s Prime Time programme on Thursday night as he reflected on the trajectory of the country since 1960, adding that Nigeria has failed to produce a national dream that can inspire its people.

According to the cleric, no Nigerian leader has given a speech to match the significance of the independence address in 1960.

Kukah said: “I’ve always said, for example, close your eyes and ask yourself after the 1960 speech, whether there is a speech of any president of Nigeria that has made you feel wow

“America today is a myth, the American Dream. Nation-building is about mythology. It’s not about reality. But you see, Nigeria has not had the ability and the capacity to create a dream.”

He frowned at the fact that successive leaders, especially military rulers, killed intellectual debate in governance.

“Once the soldiers found that they couldn’t win the intellectual argument, they didn’t allow intellect to become a dominant force,” he said. “Therefore, as they said, people were teaching what they were not paid to teach.”

The cleric also revealed that lots of Northerners remain deeply hurt by the assassinations of two founding fathers, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, and Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa, in the January 1966 coup.

“And I can tell you, most Northerners who are in their 70s and 80s still cannot come to terms with the brutal killing of the Sardauna and Tafawa Balewa,” he said.

He lamented the country’s failure to address painful political chapters

He said, “Unfortunately, we have a country that doesn’t like to confront the truth. We often say as Africans, forgive and forget. And we bury the hatchet, but the handle is outside.”

He pointed out that unhealed wounds of history have caused the country not to advance.

He said, “This is why the dreams of our fathers, our founding fathers, have now become nightmares for us. And we now ended up with a situation in which the recruitment process, whether it’s for public life or the bureaucracy, all of those things came crashing down.”

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