The senator representing Kaduna Central in the National Assembly, Sen. Shehu Sani, has commended the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) for daring to tell President Muhammadu Buhari about goings-on in the country.
The Catholic Bishops led by Conference Chairman and Archbishop of Jos, Dr. Ignatus Kaigama visited the president at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Thursday, where they told him that his goodwill was fast depleting among Nigerians.
The bishops, in an address read by Kaigama, also informed the president that “there is too much suffering in the country: poverty, hunger, joblessness, insecurity, violence, fear… the list is endless.
“Our beloved country appears to be under siege. Many negative forces seem to be keeping a stranglehold on the population, especially the weaker and defenseless ones.
“There is a feeling of hopelessness across the country. Our youths are restive and many of them have taken to hard drugs, cultism and other forms of violent crime, while many have become victims of human trafficking. The Nation is nervous.
“Just as we seem to be gradually emerging from the dark tunnel of an economic recession that caused untold hardship to families and individuals, violent attacks by unscrupulous persons, among whom are terrorists masquerading as herdsmen, have led to a near civil war situation in many parts of the country.
“We are saddened that repeatedly innocent citizens in different communities across the nation are brutally attacked and their sources of livelihood mindlessly destroyed.
“Property, worth billions of Naira, including places of worship, schools, hospitals and business enterprises are torched and turned to ashes.
“We are still more saddened by the recent massacre of unarmed citizens by these terrorists in some communities in Benue, Adamawa, Kaduna and Taraba States which has caused national shock, grief and outcry.
“What is even more distressful is that the government, whose responsibility it is to protect the life and property of every citizen seems either incapable or unwilling to do this.
“The silence of the federal government in the wake of these horrifying attacks is, to say the least, shocking.”
Sani hailed the bishops’ courage for daring to be different from other visitors to the Presidential Villa who go there to “shiver”.
He said, “When some visit the Rock, They sing.
“When some visit the Rock, They speak.
“When some visit the Rock, They sink.
“When some visit the Rock, They shiver.
“The Catholics visited the Rock And spoke truth to power; And the Power listened with humility.”