Despite his many promises, Bishop Matthew Hassan-Kukah of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto believes President Muhammadu Buhari will leave Nigerians “much more vulnerable” than when he took office on May 29, 2015.
The cleric mentioned this in his 2022 Christmas Message, headlined “Nigeria: Let Us Turn A New Page,” which was made available to newsmen by Rev. Fr Christopher Omotosho, Director, Social Communications of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto.
Kukah also stated that he has no doubt that the President’s health has improved over the last seven and a half years, but he wishes that millions of Nigerians could enjoy a fraction of Buhari’s improved health through access to better healthcare services in the country.
“Mr. President Sir, Merry Christmas to you and your entire family,” he said. I speak for myself and Nigerians when I say that we are grateful to God for generously restoring you to good health. We know you’re in better shape now than you were before. We can feel it in your steps in the spring, the thousands of miles you’ve continued to travel when you travel abroad. May God bless you with many more years of excellent health.
“However, I also hope that millions of our compatriots had a chance to enjoy only a fraction of your own health by a measurable improvement in the quality of health care in our country.
“It is terrible that despite your lofty promises, you are leaving us considerably more exposed than when you came, that the corruption we hoped would be battled has become a leviathan and sadly, a consequence of an administration characterised by nepotism.
“In my Christmas Message last year, I stated that you had violated the Constitution by failing to honor and adhere to our Constitution’s federal character provisions. “The proof is all in front of us,” Kukah stated.
The Bishop, on the other hand, praised the President for his efforts in the field of infrastructure and in attempting to eradicate electoral malpractice.
“Am I to believe you knew about the Muslim-Muslim ticket within your Party and did nothing about it?” he asked. Kukah quickly chimed in. “However, we continue to hope for a free, fair, and credible election.”
Kukah bemoaned the abduction of “children still in the forests, in the hands of bad persons” and asked Nigerians to be “vigilant,” calling for a shift in strategy on the part of the masses to dethrone arrogant men and women in authority who are determined to turn Nigeria into a jungle.
“This is the last Christmas for the current administration. Let us all do our part now that we have the opportunity to elect new leaders. Do not be jaded. God is not finished with us. Choose leaders who, in your opinion, will love us, care for us, grieve with us, and laugh with us. “Look ahead, not back,” he said.
“However, the answers to my messages indicate that, in general, Nigerians listen to our voices in the desert. However, our people’s willful culture of pauperization and misery persists. So, in order to turn a new page, we need to change our strategy. We need a fresh strategy to combat those who sit arrogantly on the throne of authority and are determined to turn our country into a jungle.
“We require a new strategy that distinguishes between men and women of honor and those who have chosen dishonour. We require a new method that gives a clearer moral compass for ordinary citizens who, based on the moral strength of culture and religion, are attempting to establish a good society, even if on shaky ground. We must stand tall and firmly. “We need new methods for saying no to government violence,” he stated.
