Matthew Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Sokoto, yesterday, heavily criticised President Muhammadu Buhari over insecurity, corruption and division along ethnic fault lines in Nigeria, saying President Buhari has destroyed every aspect of life in Nigeria but has allowed corruption to thrive and grow.
Kukah made this known in his Easter Message titled, ‘To mend a broken nation: The Easter metaphor.’
He said: “Our dear country, Nigeria, still totters and wobbles as we screech towards a dangerous and avoidable canyon of dry bones.
“With everything literally broken down, our country has become one big emergency national hospital with full occupancy.
“Our individual hearts are broken. Our family dreams are broken. Homes are broken. Churches, mosques, infrastructure are broken. Our educational system is broken. Our children’s lives and future are broken. Our politics is broken. Our economy is broken. Our energy system is broken. Our security system is broken. Our roads and rails are broken. Only corruption is alive and well.”
Kukah is known for his courage in speaking truth to power. In his unsparing Christmas homily of December 2020, he had accused President Buhari of promoting northern hegemony, saying that there could have been a coup, if a non-northern Muslim president had done a fraction of what Buhari was doing.
Last year’s Easter, he delivered a blistering condemnation of the Buhari administration, saying the government had failed and turned the country into a massive killing field.
This year’s message appears to be even strident as the respected cleric lampooned the President. He said: “Nigerians can no longer recognise their country, which has been battered and buffeted by men and women from the dark womb of time. It is no longer necessary to ask how we got here. The real challenge is how to find the slippery rungs on the ladder of ascent so we can climb out. Yet, we ask, ascend to where?
“One would be tempted to ask, what is there to say about our tragic situation today that has not been said? Who is there to speak that has not spoken? Like the friends of Job, we stare at an imponderable tragedy as the nation unravels from all sides.
“The government has slid into hibernation mode. It is hard to know whether the problem is that those in power do not hear, see, feel, know, or just don’t care. Either way, from this crossroads, we must make a choice, to go forward, turn left or right or return home. None of these choices are easy, yet, guided by the light of the risen Christ, we can reclaim our country from its impending slide to anarchy.
