The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese Matthew Kukah yesterday criticised the Federal Government’s handling of security, saying it had broken the country.
According to him, President Muhammadu Buhari had yet to realise that he could determine how the country could “end the war that has engulfed and is tearing down our nation.”
The Bishop, in an Easter message to his congregation in Sokoto, likened Nigeria to an emergency hospital with full occupancy.
He said: “The challenge of fixing this broken nation is enormous and, as I have said, requires joint efforts. With everything broken down, our country has become one big emergency national hospital with full occupancy.
“Our hearts are broken. Our family dreams are broken. Homes are broken. Churches, Mosques, and infrastructure are broken. Our educational system is broken.
“Our children’s lives and futures are broken. Our politics is broken. Our economy is broken. Our energy system is broken. Our security system is broken. Our Roads and Rails are broken. Only corruption is alive and well.”
He urged Nigerians to “start thinking of a Nigeria beyond banditry and kidnapping and the endless circles of violence that have engulfed our communities and nation.”
The bishop advised the Federal Government to enforce Nigeria’s secular status as a way to stamp out what he identified as religion-fuelled insecurity.
Prescribing a way out, Kukah said: “The President must concede that it is within his powers to decide how we are going to end the war that has engulfed and is tearing down our nation.”
He, however, accused the government of prioritising the integration of repentant terrorists over freeing kidnap victims.
The Bishop said: “It seems that the federal government has shown far greater commitment to integrating so-called repentant terrorists than getting our children back from kidnappers or keeping our universities open.
