Editor’s note: The Naij.com columnist Japheth Omojuwa speaks out against the statement Reverend Father Matthew Kukah made in regard to President Muhammadu Buhari’s probing the Goodluck Jonathan administration. Buhari’s focus on governance and subsequent rejection of the probing would be a diversionary tactic that Nigerians cannot afford to be distracted by, Omojuwa says, stressing the role of accountability in governance.

When headlines flew about that General Buhari had told Muslims to vote for only Muslims during the elections, Reverend Father Matthew Kukah must have been one of the few people who gave the retired general the benefit of the doubt before reacting to the story. He actually put a call to Buhari at the time to have him tell his side of the story. This point has been made here because, even though one believes everyone deserves the benefit of the doubt, people like Rev. Fr. Kukah deserve more than a double dose of that — not just because of the above act of chivalry displayed towards Mr. Buhari, who, incidentally, is now Nigeria’s president, but because Rev. Fr. Kukah has been and, in my opinion, remains one of the few good ones out there.

Condemnations have been flying around against the Rev. Fr. Kukah. The summary of most people’s anger is that the Rev. Fr. prefers to see the Buhari government forget the financial recklessness and corruption of the Jonathan government so that it can focus on governance.

Summarising Kukah’s position

One was shocked to see some of the statements credited to the revered Rev. Father. Seeing as this was a man once held (and still being held) in high esteem, it was only natural to hold fire before having a go like everyone else. I do not have the Rev. Father’s number and I really do not see myself as with enough clout to put a call through someone of his status to confirm his side of the story. If I were a journalist, maybe, but I am but just another citizen.

YouTube came to the rescue. I watched the Channels TV recorded videos of the interview repeatedly, ready to pick out enough sentences to defend the Rev. Father against public opinion. I listened out for statements, looked out for a body language that’d scream: “No! The public is wrong. I want that government probed too and I want to see justice done”. I just needed to see something. It would not be a bad thing to be a lone voice against the sweeping current of public opinion as long as one’s voice carried the weight of truth. But sadly, one ended up on the affirmative side of public opinion.

I have never been the one to care to see where the public stands to see a spot I could take right beside the public, I have been the one to take every stand simply based on what I know per time. When wrong, I am likely to be wrong because of the information available to me and not because I stood with the public. Mutatis mutandis when right.

Watching the videos 

To quote some of the things he said: “Even if we are going to go into a probe, it is not a substitute for governance,” “I don’t believe that, even if you recover all the money that has been stolen from us, it will not go the same way.

“I am simply saying, it can be me tomorrow, it can be you tomorrow, but for goodness sake, had President Jonathan not done what he did, let’s look across the road, let’s look across Africa and let’s see the tragic situation that we are in in Africa. See what is happening in Burundi, see what happened in Ivory Coast, see what happened in Rwanda, when the crisis of transitions meant that people put their personal interest before any other interest.

“History would not forget what President Jonathan did, and it is not in our interests to pretend. Even if he stole all the money in the world, and even if the world is bringing everything into Nigeria, Maupe [Channels TV moderator], you’ll not be sitting in that studio, I will not be sitting here, I am not sure where I will be. I am not sure where General Buhari will be. I’m not sure where the vice president or any of us will be today.  What I am saying is, let’s keep our eyes on the ball, that’s basically what I’m saying.”

No two ways about it

Reading the above , it should not be hard to see where the Rev. Fr. stands on the need to recover all the money stolen from Nigeria. My words may not carry as much weight but I totally disagree with the Rev. Father on this one. “I am simply saying, it can be me tomorrow, it can be you tomorrow“ suggests that one should not correct the anomalies of the past because one could be on the same end with those being chased for corruption.

Hmmmn. I have said it several times: ex-president Jonathan deserves all the praise he got for quickly conceding the election to Mr. Buhari. It was the first time an incumbent Nigerian president would do such, but of course, it was also the first time an incumbent Nigerian president would lose at the polls. President Buhari himself has praised Jonathan, one of those coming at a major African Union session in South Africa. This was praise well-deserved for the former president. If got praised for the gentlemanly way he handled his loss to President Buhari, we cannot deprive him of what he deserves if he or any of his cabinet members stole our money.

These are two different issues, and they must be treated separately. If anyone says that concession bought president Jonathan and those who served him freedom from prosecution for alleged acts of corruption or other criminal acts for that matter, such a person cannot claim to be interested in the collective progress of this society.

If we do not seek to have those who ruled us come account for their time, what sort of society do we intend to build? If everyone who goes into government knows there is no consequence for whatever they get done while in government, where will the incentive to do the right thing come from?

On this one issue, only one side ought to exist, our dear respected Father Kukah was wrong this time.

Punish to discourage

Yes, President Buhari should focus on governance and make sure to prioritize the war on terror, the development of a sustainable power agenda for Nigeria built on modular solutions, the development of an educational system that works, and the opening up of a level playing field for a thriving free market economy. These are one of the foreground necessities, and the current administration cannot run from them.

Another thing the current administration cannot run from is the recovery of the loot the main actors in the Jonathan government were accused of perpetrating while looking to win the election. If President Buhari fails to recover the loot he has repeatedly told Nigerians he has found abroad, if the president fails to make those who deprived Nigerians of their wealth pay for such heinous crimes, we would have lost the very essence of the foundation we need to set the new Nigeria upon: the foundation of accountability.

“The N7bn is just pocket money that is chicken feed by Nigerian standard; that is if you consider how much money is being stolen from this country.” Reverend Fr. Matthew Kukah made this statement early last year on the proposed N7billion earmarked for the 2014 National Conference.

N7 billion is a lot of money, but, like the wise Reverend noted above, it is chicken feed when placed beside the money that has been stolen from this country. If President Buhari fails to draw the line on this seemingly everlasting national pastime of looting, by 2024, another Rev. Fr. may look at N700billion and call same chicken feed, because corruption is progressive. If you don’t punish the thieves you know and don’t trace their loot today, bigger thieves will come, bigger thieves will thrive.

In the end, no man is perfect, and on the strength of the interview discussed in this piece, I am sorry, but I totally disagree with the Rev. Father. Like the rest of us, I guess fathers can be wrong, too.

Japheth Omojuwa is a renowned Nigerian social media expert, columnist and Naij.com contributor.

The views expressed in this article are author’s own and do not necessarily represent the editorial policy of Naij.com.