Bishop Mathew Kukah has said there is an urgent need to save Nigeria under the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).

He described Nigeria under the present regime as a nation at war with itself.

Kukah spoke in a sermon during wake of His Grace, Archbishop Peter Yariyock Jatau, a former Archbishop of Kaduna Diocese of the Catholic Church held at St. Joseph’s Catholic Cathedral, in Kaduna on Tuesday.

Jatau died in Kaduna on December 16, 2020, at age 89.

Kukah’s statement is coming in less than three weeks after his Christmas message where he accused Buhari of nepotism, among other things.

In the sermon titled, ‘A nation in search of its soul,’ Kukah on Tuesday insisted that Nigeria had “become one huge waste land, huge debris of the deceit, lies, treachery, double dealing and duplicity.”

Kukah said, “Today, our dear nation is like the proverbial farmer searching for his black goat. He has to do it with a sense of urgency because darkness is setting in as the sun quickly recedes.

“Our nation has become one huge waste land, huge debris of the deceit, lies, treachery, double dealing and duplicity. Nigerian politics has become a huge Trojan horse, a hoax, a hall of guile and dissimulation.

“The levels of frustration are rising by the day and we can see all this in the rise in domestic violence and inter-communal conflicts. A combination of all these has turned us unto a nation at war with itself.”

The cleric descended on the Northern elites, nothing that they had failed to manage the diversity of the great region in general and the great city of Kaduna in particular.

Kukuh, however, was full of optimism that the new government under Malam Nasir El-Rufai was embarking on excellent physical infrastructure which would transform Kaduna.

The cleric said, “Post-civil war Nigeria faced severe challenges but nowhere was this more so than the north with Kaduna being the epicentre.

“Suspicion gradually set in. No one needs to recite the litany of woes and bloodshed that have characterised the great city of Kaduna. Archbishop Jatau saw through the good and the bad times.

“We pray the governor will be even handed to see the broader picture. Social infrastructure for markets and entertainment has more capacity for dialogue and peace than a million seminars.”

Gowon, govs, others pay tributes to Jatau at burial

Meanwhile, a former Head of State, Genneral Yakubu Gowon, Secretary to Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, Nigerian Governors’ Forum, paid glowing tributes to Jatau in Kaduna on Wednesday.

At the lay-in-state ceremony held at the main bowl of Ahmadu Bello Stadium, where the late Jatau was incidentally consecrated as a Bishop in November 5, 1972, Gowon, represented by the Executive Secretary of the National Christian Welfare Board, Rev. Yakubu Pam, described Jatau as a “nationalist.”

He said Gowon also described Jatau as a “ unifier.”

Mustapha described Jatau as a “General of the Lord,”  who knew all about the formation of the Christian Association of Nigeria in the North as well as in the country.

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum under the chairmanship of D. Kayode  Fayemi, who is also the Governor of Ekiti State, said the late cleric contributed to the socio-economic development of the country through his wise counsel.

The governors were represented by the Plateau State Governor and Chairman of the Northern State Governors’ Forum, Simon Lalong.

Lalong noted that the death of Jatau was not only a “great loss to the North but the entire country.”

Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, represented by the Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr Samuel Aruwan, said, “The passing of His Grace is indeed a huge loss to the people of Kaduna

Sate and he will be missed for his teachings and commitment to the advocacy for peaceful co-existence and religious harmony in Kaduna state.”

A former Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, commiserated with the Christian Association of Nigeria, the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria and the people of Kaduna State.