The Bishop of the Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah, has asked Nigerian leaders to address suffering but told citizens not to lose faith despite the challenges facing the country. 

Kukah made the call in his 2025 Christmas message issued on Thursday.

“In the midst of the darkness of our circumstances, we strongly urge our leaders to strengthen their resolve towards ameliorating the sufferings that challenge our faith,” the preacher said.

“We may not have enough to feed the greed of our elite, but there is enough to feed our people.”

The cleric lamented the mass abduction of students from their schools in parts of the country.

He said, “These children are our future. As we think of the child Jesus at Christmas, we can only continue in steadfast prayer and hope that our redeemer liveth (Job 9:25)”.

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Bishop Kukah said crimes such as banditry, armed robbery, and kidnapping have continued across Nigeria, and he is asking citizens to pray for the families of those affected by these.

“Secondly, we owe them our commitment to work for a better tomorrow that God’s Kingdom of Peace and Justice will reign among us,” he said.

While these challenges cannot be denied, Bishop Kukah wants Nigerians not to lose hope. The Bishop said Nigeria cannot outsource solutions to its challenges, but rather be united in confronting them.

“In this holy season of Christmas, let us remember that the Lord heals our wounds and mends our broken hearts (Ps. 147:3). Like the shepherds in the fields, we pray that millions of our brethren stranded in refugee camps or forests may hear the good news that joy has come into the world,” he said in a statement.

“We do not celebrate Christmas as a feast or a date on our calendar. We celebrate it as a vocation. Our duty is to let the world see and experience the face of Jesus. Let us do that by our lives of love. Let us embrace peace and seek reconciliation.”

He maintained that Christ remains the cornerstone of the Christian faith, urging believers to push on despite the temptation to grow weary and despondent due to the circumstances happening in the country.

The cleric said those causing havoc in Nigeria are “among us”; irrespective of the name the perpetrators of violence are called, it cannot change the fact that they are products of the low level of the nation’s development.