FOR the umpteenth time, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Most Reverend Father Matthew Hassan Kukah has once again raised a lamentation on the horrid and gloomy state the Nigerian nation is drifting. Kukah’s Christmas sabre-rattling homily entitled ‘A Nation in Search of Vindication’ raised some critical but fundamental issues threatening Nigeria’s cohesion and survival.
IN the remarkable sermon delivered on December 25, 2020, Kukah has said: “Against the backdrop of our endless woes, ours has become a nation wrapped in desolation. The prospects of a failed state stare us in the face: endless bloodletting, a collapsing economy, social anomie, domestic and community violence, kidnappings, armed robberies, etc. Ours has become a house of horror with fear stalking our homes, highways, cities, hamlets, and entire communities.”
AMIDST the palpable fear that has engulfed the citizens, the cleric accused President Buhari and his government of cluelessness, impunity and being insensitive to the plights of Nigerians. In his words: “As our country drifts almost rudderless, we seem like people travelling without maps, without destination, and with neither Captain nor Crew. Citizens have nowhere to turn to.”
HE further accused President Buhari of deliberately sacrificing “the dreams of those who voted for him to what seemed like a programme to stratify and institutionalise northern hegemony by reducing others in public life to second class status. He has pursued this self-defeating and alienating policy at the expense of greater national cohesion.
”EVERY honest Nigerian knows that there is no way any non-Northern Muslim President could have done a fraction of what President Buhari has done by his nepotism and gotten away with it. There would have been a military coup a long time ago or we would have been at war.”
LESS than three weeks later, Bishop Kukah in another sermon said there was an urgent need to save Nigeria under the current government of President Buhari. He was preaching during the burial rites ofArchbishop Peter YariyockJatau, a former Archbishop of Kaduna Diocese of the Catholic Church held at St. Joseph’s Catholic Cathedral, in Kaduna on Tuesday January 6, 2021.
IN a sermon entitled ‘A nation in search of its soul,’ Kukah on Tuesday insisted that Nigeria had “become one huge waste land, huge debris of the deceit, lies, treachery, double dealing and duplicity. Nigerian politics has become a huge Trojan horse, a hoax, a hall of guile and dissimulation. The levels of frustration are rising by the day and we can see all this in the rise in domestic violence and inter-communal conflicts. A combination of all these has turned us unto a nation at war with itself.”
BISHOP Kukah’s outbursts no doubt have expectedly elicited mixed reactions across the country with many applauding him and others condemning him. Those who commended the cleric believe that he is the voice that our country needs for now in order to put the government in check by speaking truth to power. Those who opposed him have accused the cleric of instigating an overthrow of Buhari’s government. THE HOPE belongs to the former as we are of the strong opinion that the messenger should not be vilified at the expense of the message. Thus, the issues raised by him ought to be taken with utmost seriousness they deserve.
THE HOPE believes that Buhari’s government has a lot of bags on its shoulders and should therefore take concrete steps to purge itself of the baggage. Several policies of government have made it unpopular as Nigerians are hungry, angry and irritated. What Nigerians deserve from this government is their basic welfare as well as security of their lives and properties. Government must take concrete steps in addressing unemployment, infrastructure decay and economic downtown among others.
NIGERIANS need their president to be visible and responsive to their yearnings and aspirations. The president and his family must be accessible to Nigerians. The attitude of the President’s wife is not encouraging as her whereabouts remain unknown to the citizens. To say the least, Nigerians deserve to know where the First Lady resides. The President must change his style of running the affairs of the country if he must expect better results.
PRESIDENT Buhari must see Kukah’s treatise as a wake-up call to implement policies that will improve the lives of the people. Rather than calling for the head of Bishop Kukah, THE HOPE calls on President Buhari to do the needful to wrest Nigeria from the brink of extirpation.