Bishop Kukah Blames Military for Nigeria’s Stalled Progress Compared to Singapore

The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah, has expressed the view that Nigeria had the potential to outperform countries like Singapore, Malaysia, and Japan if not for military interventions that disrupted the nation’s progress.

Speaking during an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time on Thursday evening, Bishop Kukah reflected on Nigeria’s early post-independence promise.

“As a child, I remember how excited we were just to catch a glimpse of the Sardauna,” Kukah recalled. “In my village, we were shown screens displaying all sorts of advancements and wonderful things. We had everything we needed to build a prosperous nation.”

He noted that Nigeria’s early bureaucracy laid the foundation for development, but subsequent military takeovers and the rise of ethnic and religious divisions undermined the country’s progress.

“When people ask why Nigeria isn’t like Singapore or Japan, the truth is, we could have been better than Singapore and Malaysia,” he said. “No one would have seen our back if the military had not intervened.”

Kukah emphasized that Singapore’s success was not solely due to Lee Kuan Yew’s leadership, but largely because of an inherited and stable bureaucracy.

“The destruction of Nigeria’s bureaucracy and societal structures accelerated the rise of ethnic identity and divisions,” he explained.