Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah, has issued a stark warning about the state of the nation, describing Nigeria as “reaching a breaking point” and likening it to a “huge national morgue.”
In his 2025 Easter message titled ‘Mr. President: Please Bring Us Down from This Cross’, Bishop Kukah made an emotional plea to President Bola Tinubu, urging swift and decisive action to relieve Nigerians from worsening insecurity and widespread suffering.
Kukah painted a bleak picture of a nation plagued by brutality and bloodshed, stating: “Every day, innocent citizens are kidnapped and held under the most inhuman conditions. 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 reiterated that the country is nearing collapse, saying, “Mr President, with a greater sense of urgency, hasten to bring us down from this cross of evil.”
Although Kukah acknowledged that President Tinubu inherited the crisis, he emphasized the burden of leadership. “Nigerians have been dangling and bleeding on this cross of pain and mindless suffering for too long,” he said. “Mr. President, immediately rid our dear country of these forces of darkness and bring us down from this cross of cynicism.”
The bishop expressed deep concern over the growing distrust in government, citing deteriorating security and economic conditions. “Frustration has penetrated every spectrum of our society,” he said. “Government and its security agencies seem to have largely become spectators in the dance of death that has overtaken our country.”
Kukah also raised probing questions about the root causes of the insecurity. “Are Nigerians lambs being sacrificed to an unknown god?” he 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?”
On economic issues, Kukah criticized the consequences of the fuel subsidy removal, warning of its devastating impact on vulnerable citizens. “Hunger and sickness now stalk the land,” he lamented. While recognizing the necessity of economic reforms, he cautioned that short-term relief efforts fall short. “Mere palliative distribution diminishes the dignity of citizens,” he said. “Make food security a fundamental human right to all citizens.”
Reflecting on Nigeria’s political past, Kukah pointed to the role of armed groups in past electoral cycles. “The bandits have not only become embedded in every sphere of our lives, they threaten to destroy all that holds our communities together,” he said.
