Archbishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto has made a passionate plea to President Bola Tinubu, urging him to take decisive steps to alleviate the suffering and hardship currently gripping Nigerians. In his Easter message delivered on Sunday, the respected cleric described the condition of the nation as deeply distressing, characterized by widespread hunger, insecurity, and desolation.
Addressing the President directly, Kukah said, “Mr. President, the Nigerian people are languishing under the weight of hunger, disease, and despair. Though we agree that the removal of fuel subsidies was a necessary economic decision, it has unleashed a wave of hardship. While the country now enjoys increased domestic revenue, these gains have not translated into meaningful relief for ordinary Nigerians.”
He lamented that for over a decade, farming—once the backbone of Nigeria’s economy and a source of livelihood for millions—has become one of the most dangerous occupations due to the activities of armed groups who terrorize rural communities.
On the issue of insecurity, Kukah painted a grim picture of the state of the nation, accusing previous political actors of enabling the infiltration of violent groups such as bandits and insurgents in a bid to destabilize the government of the day and gain political advantage. According to him, these groups have since entrenched themselves across the country, bringing death, destruction, and displacement to countless innocent citizens.
“What we are witnessing today is the metastasis of a cancer—an unchecked spread of violence and lawlessness. This cancer now threatens the very foundation of our shared humanity,” he declared. Kukah emphasized that across every region, from the north to the south, stories of abductions, killings, and general insecurity have become the norm.
“It is almost impossible to find a home, a family, or a community that hasn’t been scarred by this reign of terror. Innocent Nigerians are being kidnapped daily and subjected to the most dehumanizing conditions. A dark cloud of death hangs over the nation,” he warned.
He went on to criticize the government’s efforts to cushion the effect of economic hardship through the distribution of palliatives, asserting that such gestures, while perhaps well-intentioned, degrade the dignity of the average citizen and are unsustainable in the long run.
Kukah urged the federal government to recognize food security as a fundamental human right and to work aggressively towards ensuring that no Nigerian goes to bed hungry. “Mr. President,” he said, “we beseech you with urgency and compassion—bring us down from this cross of hunger and misery.”
Despite acknowledging that the Tinubu administration did not originate the current national crisis, Kukah stressed that the burden of leadership demands immediate and effective intervention. “You may not have erected this cross, Mr. President, nor orchestrated our collective suffering, but Nigerians have been hanging, bleeding, and weeping on this cross of pain for far too long,” he concluded.
