By Chidera Eke, News/Comments, June 13, 2024
LAGOS-The fiery Catholic Archbishop of Sokoto Diocese, Most Rev. (Dr) Matthew Hassan Kukah had said that the Nigerian democracy is not onlt in recession but in total confusion as it does not reflect the country’s cultural experiences as a diverse nation. Kukah stated during The Platform Nigeria annual event, organized by a Lagos-based church, Covenant Nation, to mark the 2024 Democracy Day on Wednesday.
The Bishop as usual criticized the Nation’s leadership style which continued to keep citizens in poverty, stating that, democracy was not founded on the country’s historical, cultural or anthropological experiences, unlike Europe where principles of democracy were founded on the thinking of several philosophers.
His words, “What is missing in our conversation is that unlike where the principles of democracy were founded on the thinking of several philosophers from Plato, Socrates, Aristotle etc, our democracy has paid very little attention.
“We have been involved in intellectual conversations about democracy but modern liberal democracy as we understand it today benefitted extensively from the work of people like St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas.
“It is also quite significant that Joe Biden even in his presidential address had to quote St Augustine and it means therefore that it is the teachings and philosophies and theology of some of these scholars that led the foundation to what we call democracy today.
“Unfortunately, our democracy is in decline, and is in recession precisely because it is evident to us that what we are working with is not something that comes from our own historical, cultural or even anthropological experiences,”
Kukah regretted Nigerians’ are now in obsession with politics, and seems not to think beyond a particular period. Nigerians do not want to hear about what will happen in 2040 but all their attention is fixed on the politics of 2027. The cleric also acknowledged the global economic recession, and its impact aggravating in country because of mismanagement.
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