Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah, has stated that nation-building thrives on mythologies and visions that stir collective imagination, citing the “American Dream”.
News360 Info reports that Kukah, while fielding questions on Arise Television’s Prime Time programme on Thursday, noted that Nigeria has failed to create a unifying national dream.
According to the fiery cleric, no Nigerian president has been able to deliver a memorable speech with the same impact as the one given at the country’s independence in 1960.
Kukah emphasised that Nigeria’s military leaders, through the suppression of intellectual engagement in governance, prevented the growth of ideas that could have shaped a stronger nation.
He said, “Nation-building is about mythology. It’s not about reality. The America today is a myth, the American Dream.
“But you see, Nigeria has not had the ability and the capacity to create a dream.
“I’ve always said, for example, close your eyes and ask yourself after the 1960 speech, whether there is a speech of any president of Nigeria that has made you feel wow, or whether there is a speech that, like JF Kennedy’s 1963 speech that is so memorable that you have to ask yourself, what was I doing when this speech was delivered?
“That speaks to another dimension, which is, what is the intellectual content of governance?
“Because once the soldiers found that they couldn’t win the intellectual argument, they are scaffolding.
“They didn’t allow intellect to become a dominant force. Therefore, as they said, people were teaching what they were not paid to teach.”
