Kukah tells FG to use recovered loot for people’s welfare

The Bishop of the Sokoto Diocese of the Catholic Church, Bishop Mathew Kukah, has urged the Federal Government of Nigeria to convince the people that the proceeds recovered from corrupt individuals are channeled to projects that will have direct impact on the masses.

He described corruption as a sign of a sickness afflicting the country, expressed worry in the way the corruption fight was being fought by the Federal Government.

Also He lamented that from the look of things, it was obvious that many people were behaving as if the fight against corruption was the fight of a single individual.

Kukah spoke as a guest of the book readers’ club of the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy in Ibadan on Tuesday.

He said government must also engage the people to give them a hope of a better future.

“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.”