In a powerful and emotionally charged Easter message titled “Mr. President: Please Bring Us Down from This Cross,” the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah, has called on President Bola Tinubu to urgently rescue the nation from what he described as a “cross of evil”—a metaphor for Nigeria’s spiraling insecurity and deepening economic woes.

 

Delivering his annual Easter homily, Bishop Kukah painted a grim portrait of a country ravaged by violence and extreme hardship. “Our nation is bleeding from a scale of cruelty and brutality never seen in its history,” he declared, lamenting the daily toll of kidnappings and killings that have left few families untouched.

 

He warned that the country is teetering on the edge of collapse, likening Nigeria to a “giant national morgue,” and urged the President to act swiftly. “For too long, Nigerians have been trapped on this cross of suffering and despair,” he said. “Mr. President, free us from the grip of darkness and bring hope back to our nation.”

 

While Bishop Kukah acknowledged that President Tinubu inherited a host of national challenges, he insisted that leadership demands urgent and decisive action. “A shadow of death lingers from the north to the south,” he added, accusing the government and its security forces of appearing helpless in the face of rising violence. “Frustration now runs through every layer of society.”

 

Kukah raised pointed questions about the root of Nigeria’s prolonged insecurity. “Is this due to incompetence, or are we being offered as sacrifices to unknown powers?” he asked. “Have some leaders benefited from this chaos? Is the violence the consequence of decisions made to secure political power in the past?”

 

The bishop did not shy away from Nigeria’s worsening economic troubles either. He sharply criticized the impact of the fuel subsidy removal, which he said has pushed millions into hunger and disease. While acknowledging the need for reforms, Kukah condemned the government’s short-term solutions. “Distributing palliatives degrades the dignity of our people,” he stated. “Food security must be recognized as a basic human right.”

 

He further expressed concern that some political leaders, in the pursuit of power, empowered violent groups that now threaten the nation’s cohesion. “Bandits have become embedded in every corner of society, tearing apart the bonds that hold our communities together,” he warned.

 

As Nigeria marks Easter — a season of hope and renewal — Bishop Kukah’s message comes as both a rebuke and a plea, urging the President to rise to the occasion. “Act with urgency and deliver us from this burden of evil,” he concluded.

 

The message has already begun to stir public debate, reflecting the mounting desperation of many Nigerians and the growing demand for transformational leadership in these uncertain times.