Abuja — The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has expressed worry over the persisting hardship and insecurity across the country, saying the future of the nation remained bleak despite some recorded progress.
Worried by the state of affairs of the nation, CBCN cautioned against abuse of human rights, perpetration of injustice and corruption, stressing that leaders who loot public coffers should be mindful of the dangers of provoking the populace to effect change through violent uprising.
Speaking at the opening plenary of the first meeting of the CBCN in 2025, President of the Conference and Archbishop of the Owerri Archdiocese, Most Rev. Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, expressed worry that the country has continued to face various challenges.
According to him, these include harsh socio-economic situations, heightening insecurity, rising youth unemployment and the deplorable state of federal correctional centres.
He said: "While the economic reforms introduced by President Bola Tinubu's administration aims at stabilising the economy in the long term, they have significantly triggered sky-rocketing inflation, drastically reduced the purchasing power of Nigerians, and plunged millions into poverty.
"The World Bank projects that 129 million Nigerians now live below the poverty line. The 2024 Global Report on Food Crisis lists Nigeria as the second globally in terms of acute food insecurity, with 24 million people categorised as food insecure".
On insecurity, he said that more and more communities are being terrorised, traumatised, displaced, impoverished and their ancestral homes taken over by their conquerors.
Ugorji said the bishops are concerned that the government has not fully deployed technology to complement the efforts of security agents in tackling crime in the country.
Ugorji who led the audience to observe a minute silence in honour of priests and other Nigerians who lost their lives in the hands of terrorists and kidnappers said: " Gruesome tales are told of the kidnapping and cruel slaughtering of Nigerians for harvesting human parts for sale or rituals undertaken by criminal gangs.
"Enough of this senseless brutality! Enough of this barbarism! This carnage must stop! While we appreciate the efforts of the security operatives, who put their lives on the line to fight the criminals and put an end to their savagery, we wonder why the government has not deployed high technology to complement the efforts of security operatives".
Ugorji also spoke of rising youth unemployment, adding that where youths constitute 70 per cent of the population, youth unemployment in the country has remained a major concern.
As the country grapples with multifaceted challenges, the president of the Bishops Conference urged Nigerians not to give up the struggle for good governance based on free, fair and transparent elections.
He lamented the level of injustice and inhumane treatment being meted out to persons under extended custody without court hearing, saying that such actions amounted to violation of fundamental rights of the affected individuals.
Ugorji drew attention to the situation in Nigeria's federal correctional centres which he described as deplorable.
Apart from the inhumane condition of the correctional facilities, the Bishop said that the manner in which suspects are thrown into the detention centres without trial, undermine the judicial process and perpetuate injustice.
"To reverse this sad trend, there is a need to uphold fundamental rights. We should tirelessly insist on good governance that is rooted in free, fair and credible general elections. We should continue to empower our people through civic education and the church's social teaching.
"Furthermore, we should continue to appeal to corrupt leaders, who loot public coffers to be mindful of the dangers of provoking the populace to effect change through violent uprising. They should learn from the history of revolutions," he said.
In acknowledging that some measure of progress had been recorded by the present administration, the CBCN president said there have been rehabilitation of some dilapidated roads and the construction of new ones across the nation.
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He also highlighted the introduction of the student loan scheme, the new minimum wage, and the reduction in revenue to debt servicing from 97 per cent to 68 per cent.
"We have also learnt of some of the positive effects of the economic and fiscal reforms embarked upon by the government. Despite all these, the state of the nation remains bleak, as dark clouds of uncertainty and despondency continue to gather," he said.
Earlier in his homily at the opening mass celebrated at the St. Gabriel's Paris, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria in Abuja, the Host-Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama said that no matter how difficult the country's present circumstances may be, God's saving power can lead Nigeria to a future filled with hope and abundance.
In a goodwill message, President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Archbishop, Daniel Okoh expressed hope that with the interventions of good spirited persons and bodies like the Catholic Church, Nigeria will rediscover itself and chart a new course for society.
