Bishop Mathew Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, has asked Mr Bola Tinubu’s incoming administration to address the country’s security challenges.
Nigeria is being confronted by a series of security challenges ranging from banditry in the North-West and North Central, terrorism in the North-East, and militancy in the South-South to calls for secession in the South-East, among several others.
Despite efforts by security agencies and the Federal Government to nip insecurity in the bud, gunmen have continued to wreak havoc as well as attack security formations in parts of the country.
In his Easter message on Sunday in Sokoto, Bishop Kukah urged Tinubu to address the situation and begin the healing process for the teeming Nigerian population.
“Keep us alive because only the living can enjoy infrastructure,” he said. I am hopeful that you will appreciate that the most urgent task facing our nation is not infrastructure or the usual cheap talk about dividends of Democracy.”
“For now, the most urgent mission is to start a psychological journey of making Nigerians feel whole again, of creating a large tent of opportunity and hope for us all, of expanding the frontiers of our collective freedom, of cutting off the chains of ethnicity and religious bigotry, of helping us recover from the feeling of collective rape by those who imported the men of darkness that destroyed our country, of recovering our country and placing us on the path to our greatness, of exorcising the ghost of nepotism and religious bigotry.”
He commended the youth on the role they played during the last general elections and admonished them to maintain the momentum until they take back the country and set it on the path of glory.
The Catholic cleric also advised the judiciary to uphold the highest standard demanded by their profession as the country will be witnessing a number of electoral disputes at the various election petition tribunals.
“The future of our country is in your hands. You have only your consciences and your God to answer to when you listen to the claims and counterclaims of Nigerian lawyers you have to decide the future of our country.
“The future of our country hangs on your deliberations. I will not judge you. I can only pray that God gives you grace. It will be up to you to decide how you use that gift which no amount of influence or power can buy.
“Nigerians are saddened that your sacred temples have been invaded by the political class leaving the toxic fumes that now threaten your reputation as the last hope for all citizens. It is sad that your hard-earned reputation is undergoing very severe stress and pressure from those who want justice on their own terms. Nigerians are looking up to you to reclaim their trust in you as the interpreters of the spirit of our laws,” Kukah added.