By Victor Itodo Abuh
THE RESOURCE Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED) has warned that Nigeria is drifting into what it describes as a “moral reckoning,” insisting that the country’s crisis goes beyond politics, insecurity, or the economy and now threatens the ethical foundation of governance and citizenship.
Speaking at a State of the Nation press conference in Kano on Monday, CHRICED’s Executive Director, Dr. Ibrahim M. Zikirullahi, said Nigeria is “not just in distress, but in danger,” stressing that a culture of silence, complicity and impunity is gradually replacing national values.
Zikirullahi said the wave of political defections, bribery allegations in the National Assembly and claims of gatekeeping corruption within the Presidential Villa point to a deep moral failing within the leadership class. According to him, the refusal of government officials to address these allegations “is not neutrality – it is complicity.”
He argued that Nigeria’s economic contradictions, insecurity and collapsing health system all stem from a failure of ethical leadership. “A nation that cannot protect its citizens cannot legitimately claim authority,” he said while condemning the rise in kidnappings, communal violence and banditry.
The group also faulted the federal government’s “reckless borrowing,” saying debt accumulation without clear development strategy is a burden on future generations.
Zikirullahi insisted that only investment in people – not loans – can steer the country away from the “slow erosion of collective dignity.”
While highlighting the collapse in healthcare funding and the ongoing doctors’ strike, CHRICED pointed to its own intervention in Kano State’s Free Maternal and Child Healthcare Law as evidence that positive change is still possible through accountability-driven advocacy.
The organisation also renewed its call for justice for indigenous communities of the Federal Capital Territory, describing their decades-long dispossession as a “constitutional anomaly that offends the moral conscience of the nation.”
Zikirullahi urged Nigerians, especially the youth, to resist apathy and reclaim the country’s moral compass. “This is not just a political moment—it is a moral reckoning,” he said. “The future depends on whether we choose corruption and silence, or courage and accountability.”
