The Catholic Archbishop of Sokoto Diocese, Most Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently address Nigeria’s worsening insecurity, hunger, and national despair, saying the country is “gradually becoming a huge national morgue.”
In his 2025 Easter message titled “Mr President: Please Bring Us Down From This Cross”, Bishop Kukah employed the metaphor of the crucifixion of Christ to depict the suffering and hopelessness that many Nigerians currently endure, blaming a “culture of brutality and savagery” for the state of the nation.
“These sufferings have been marked by a culture of brutality and savagery never witnessed in the history of our dear country. Taken together, they have placed our country outside the purveyor of human civilisation,” Kukah said.
He acknowledged that President Tinubu did not cause Nigeria’s current woes, but insisted that he must now take decisive action.
“Mr President, we all admit that you neither erected this cross nor did you effect our collective crucifixion. Notwithstanding, Nigerians have been dangling and bleeding on this cross of pain and mindless suffering for too long,” he stated.
Bishop Kukah lamented that from north to south, homes and communities have been ravaged by kidnappings and killings.
“A dark pall of death hangs languidly from north to south. It is impossible to find a home, a family, or a community that has not been caught in the cusp of this savagery,” he said.
He also criticised the government’s response to hunger, noting that while fuel subsidy removal may have been necessary, the distribution of palliatives only “diminishes the dignity of citizens.”
“Make food security a fundamental human right to all citizens. Mr President, please bring us down from this painful cross of hunger,” he appealed.
Kukah accused some public officials of complicity in Nigeria’s insecurity, recalling that some had admitted to importing criminal elements for political advantage. He described insecurity as a “self-destructive cancer” that has become embedded in national life.
According to him, “The bandits have not only become embedded in every sphere of our lives, they threaten to destroy all that holds our communities together… Mr President, please, bring us down from this cross of insecurity.”
The Bishop warned that if insecurity is not decisively tackled, the resulting frustration could spin out of control.
“Right now, frustration has penetrated every spectrum of our society especially as the government and its security agencies seem to have largely become spectators in the dance of death that has overtaken our country,” he said.
Questioning whether the continued bloodshed was due to incompetence or vested interests, Kukah asked: “Is the persistence of the insecurity a statement of the lack of capacity of our men and women in uniform, or is it evidence that those at the top are reaping the fruits of funding their own war machine? In other words, are Nigerians lambs being sacrificed to an unknown god?”
He urged the President to act with urgency, adding: “Step up, get to the finishing line and bring us down from this cross of shame.”
Kukah concluded on a note of hope, invoking the spiritual significance of Easter and Pope Francis’s declaration of 2025 as the Year of Hope. He called on all Nigerians to reject despair and renew their commitment to national healing and unity.
“The resurrection of Jesus equips Christians to face life’s challenges with confidence… We are equipped with the light of Christ to drive out the darkness that threatens to engulf our country,” the message read.
He wished the President and Nigerians a happy Easter, praying for peace and renewal across the land.
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