Calling for urgent action, Archbishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to rescue Nigerians from the deepening crisis of hunger, insecurity, and despair.
In his Easter message delivered on Sunday, Kukah painted a grim picture of the nation’s current state, warning that the country is being overrun by “marauders, savages, and ravenous predators” as violence and lawlessness spread unchecked.
“Mr. President, hunger, sickness, and desolation stalk the land. We believe the removal of fuel subsidies was necessary, but we also see that the country now holds vast resources in domestic reserves,” he said.
However, Archbishop Kukah cautioned against reducing Nigerians’ plight to handouts and palliatives, saying such measures strip citizens of their dignity. Instead, he called for food security to be treated as a fundamental human right.
He further alleged that banditry was once a political tool that has since grown out of control, embedding itself into everyday Nigerian life through destruction and terror.
“Our nation is being torn apart by a cancer of insecurity. We are now on the brink, as kidnappers and terrorists turn homes and communities into morgues,” he lamented.
Archbishop Kukah emphasized that no Nigerian has been untouched by the wave of violence, stating, “It is impossible to find a household that has not been caught in this web of savagery.”
While acknowledging that President Tinubu did not create the current hardship, Archbishop Kukah urged him to act swiftly: “Mr. President, with a greater sense of urgency, hasten to bring us down from this cross of evil. Nigerians have been bleeding on this cross for far too long.”
