President Muhammadu Buhari has come under fire from the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Kukah, for leaving Nigerians in a much worse state than when he first met them in 2015.
In his 2022 Christmas Message, titled “Nigeria: Let Us Turn A New Page,” which was made public on Sunday, Kukah made a statement.
He pointed out that President Buhari had broken the lofty promises he had made to Nigerians during his 2014 presidential campaign.
He was pleased that Buhari’s health has improved over the past seven and a half years, but he desired that millions of Nigerians could share in some of Buhari’s improved health by having access to superior healthcare systems nationwide.
He wrote:-
“Mr President Sir, a merry Christmas to you and your entire family. I speak for myself and Nigerians when I say, we thank God that He mercifully restored you to good health. We know that you are healthier now than you were before. We can see it in the spring in your steps, the thousands of miles you have continued to cover as you travel abroad. May God give you more years of good health.
“However, I also wish that millions of our citizens had a chance to enjoy just a fraction of your own health by a measurable improvement in the quality of health care in our country. It is sad that despite your lofty promises, you are leaving us far more vulnerable than when you came, that the corruption we thought would be fought has become a leviathan and sadly, a consequence of a government marked by nepotism.
“In my Christmas Message last year, I pointed out the fact that you had breached the Constitution by your failure to honour and adhere to the federal character provisions of our Constitution. The evidence is all before us all.”
He added:-
“Am I to believe that you knew and could do nothing about the Muslim-Muslim ticket within your Party? Still, we pray for a free, fair and credible election.”
In light of the fact that kidnapped children are still being held captive by terrorists and bandits in the woodlands, Kukah pleaded on Nigerians to exercise caution as we approach the general elections in 2023.
Additionally, the cleric urged the populace to alter its approach in order to remove haughty leaders who are out to end the nation.
He said:-
“This is the last Christmas for this present government’s administration. Let us all do our duty as we have a chance to choose new leaders. Do not be cynical. God is not done with us. Choose leaders who, in your view will love us, will care for us, will cry with us, will laugh with us. Look ahead and do not look back.
“Although the responses to my messages suggest that, generally, Nigerians listen to our voices in the wilderness. However, the deliberate culture of pauperization and destitution of our people continues. So, we need a change of strategy so that we can turn a new page. We need a new strategy to confront those who sit on the throne of power in arrogance and are determined to reduce our country to a jungle.
“We need a new strategy that separates men and women of honour from those who have chosen dishonour. We need a new strategy that provides a clearer moral guide for ordinary citizens who, based on the moral strength of culture and religion, are seeking to build a good society, even if with straws. We need to stand up and stand firm. We need new mechanisms for saying no to the violence of governance.”
“Before our eyes, the capital letters that spelt Nigeria are falling to the pressures and irruptive forces of primal ethnoreligious nationalisms. Before our eyes, a dubious jihadist culture has held our nation to ransom with the government simply looking away,” he added.
