Mathew Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, says the recent deaths at food distribution centres show how desperate many Nigerians have become. Last week, more than 67 people died in stampedes while trying to get food aid in Oyo, Anambra and Abuja.

Speaking in his Christmas message on Wednesday, Kukah said these deaths could have been prevented if the government had done more to help people struggling with Nigeria’s economic problems. He described the tragedies at Okija, Ibadan, and Abuja as showing “the situation of desperation that citizens have been thrown into.”

Kukah noted that the Catholic Church has long experience in helping those in need, and suggested the government should work more closely with such organisations that help society.

Read Also: Of stampedes and welfare: Learning from Jesus’ experience on crowd management

He also spoke about other problems facing Nigeria. He pointed out that it’s still too expensive for young people to run for public office, even though the “Not Too Young to Run” law passed in 2018 was meant to help more young people enter politics.

While he praised the government’s student loan programme, he suggested it should also help people learn trade skills. Kukah added that Nigeria’s progress is still held back by ethnic favouritism and greed, with many people feeling their ethnicity and religion affect their opportunities in life.

He finished by linking Nigeria’s security problems to corruption, saying: “We cannot win the war against insecurity without addressing the issues of unemployment and violent religious extremism which create the conditions for violence.”