The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Hassan‑Kukah, has observed that Nigeria’s presidents—including former leaders Goodluck Jonathan, Olusegun Obasanjo and the current President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retired)—have all assumed office unprepared. In an interview with Channels Television aired on Sunday night, he stated, “You can go all the way down in Nigeria, you’re not going to find one single person who has been President or Head of State in Nigeria that came prepared for the job.” He added that no Nigerian head of state in history has ever entered the role fully ready.
Using the analogy of a “bad marriage,” the bishop explained that the solution is not to seek a new partner but to examine what went wrong in the existing relationship. “If you jump into a new marriage very quickly, after some time you become nostalgic about the first marriage,” he said, suggesting the same applies to Nigeria’s political leadership. He noted that many of the changes in the country have been “largely unprogrammed.”
Kukah also reflected on the military era, describing the coups that spanned more than two decades as “glorified banditry and armed robbery,” where merely pulling a gun could make one head of state. He argued that Nigeria has yet to produce an executive who is truly prepared for the office. Referring to President Buhari, he recalled that in 2011 Buhari declared, “I don’t want to be President again, I’m tired,” yet he was “pulled out screaming” to run in 2015, succeeding Goodluck Jonathan under circumstances Kukah described as similarly unplanned.
The bishop highlighted the pattern of unpreparedness in earlier administrations. He mentioned that Umar Yar’Adua, before his death, expressed a desire to return to academia, while Jonathan’s ascent was also marked by unforeseen events. Regarding Olusegun Obasanjo, Kukah noted that the former president had been in prison, hoping one day to leave and return to his farm. He concluded by recalling that Abdulsalami Abubakar, about to retire from the military, became head of state after General Sani Abacha’s death, underscoring the recurring theme of unplanned transitions in Nigeria’s leadership.
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