Catholic and Anglican Archbishops from across the country, decried the high level of insecurity, with some calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign, having failed to protect lives and property, which they felt was the fundamental reason for the existence of government.
In their homilies, the Bishop, Diocese of Kaduna, Anglican Communion, Timothy Yahaya, and the Bishop of Kaduna Catholic Archdiocese, Matthew Manoso Ndagoso, asked the President to resign, saying a similar call by the Northern Elders Forum, NEF, came at the appropriate time.
Bishop Yahaya said the right thing to do for a leader who could not deliver was to bow out of office.
Similarly, Bishop Ndagoso said it was hard to disagree with the Northern elders’ position on the need for Buhari to resign from office over killings in the country.
According to him, “I don’t want to join issues with the Northern elders because I am not a politician. But the truth about leadership is that there is morality in leadership. If you cannot deliver as a leader in a civilised clime, the right thing and best thing to do is to bow out.
“But what gives me concern seriously is that I am not sure if the President knows that his name is going down in history as the President that is supervising the killing of his people, as a President who is the petroleum minister.
“Today in Kaduna, we don’t have petrol for how many months. As the President who is supervising the nation, ASUU has closed down universities, the future generation is bleak. As a President who supervises where you hear billions of naira being budgeted and you don’t see anything verifiable for it.
Commenting on the state pardon granted former governors of Taraba and Plateau states, Jolly Nyame and Joshua Dariye respectively, the Anglican Bishop Yahaya said: “Like Femi Falana said, somebody stole Indomie and you sent him to six months imprisonment and somebody stole billions of naira, you set him free.”
“Therefore, let’s go to our prisons and begin to apologise to the prisoners. You cannot set free those who stole the patrimony of the people and sent to prison to languish those who stole five thousand naira or one hundred thousand naira in this country”.
Meanwhile, the Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Kukah, said the present administration has not only destroyed the country but also divided Nigerians along ethnic and religious lines.
He said, “The challenge of fixing this broken nation is enormous and, as I have said, requires joint efforts. With everything literally broken down, our country has become one big emergency national hospital with full occupancy”.
He also faulted the amnesty granted to terrorists and former governors of Plateau State, Senator Joshua Dariye; and Taraba State, Rev Jolly Nyame.
“We need to start thinking of a Nigeria beyond banditry and kidnapping and the endless circles of violence that have engulfed our communities and nation. We cannot continue to pretend that there are no religious undertones to the violence in the name of God that has given our religions a bad name.
Similarly, Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Owerri Archdiocese, Most Rev. Anthony J. V. Obinna, and the Anglican Archbishop of Owerri Ecclesiastical Province, Most Rev. David O. C. Onuoha, decried the worsening state of insecurity and excruciating hardship in the country.
National leader of All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has pleaded with Nigerians not to succumb to the challenges facing the country.
Continuing, he said: ‘’As Christians in Nigeria and the world over celebrate the joyous occasion, all people should take a precious moment to reflect on the profound meaning of Easter season.
Efforts to reach the Presidency for comments as at press time, proved abortive as calls put through the telephone lines of presidential spokespersons: Mr Femi Adesina and Mallam Garba Shehu, were not picked up.
Source: vanguardngr.com
Edited by: Ngozi Anna Akunne.
