Nigeria’s Catholic bishops condemned government failings in a series of interventions from their plenary assembly this month.
“The government’s reform efforts to rejig the security architecture of our country have woefully failed to plug the many loopholes in the system,” said Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji of Owerri, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria.
In an address to the assembled bishops in Abuja on 19 February, he condemned widespread kidnapping and “senseless bloodshed even in sacred precincts of worship”.
The Vatican has recently voiced its alarm at the scale of kidnappings in the country, which particularly target clergy.
“In the face of increasing violent crimes, the country stands on the brink of anarchy,” Archbishop Ugorji said, adding that the government had been unable to use Nigeria’s oil wealth to improve security or improve the conditions of the population.
“Millions of Nigerians have been reduced to a life of grinding poverty, wanton suffering, and untold hardship as never before in our national history,” he said. “In a bid to survive, an increasing number of the poor have resorted to begging.”
In a homily, the Archbishop of Abuja Ignatius Kaigama urged the government to address this worrying economic situation, which he said was driving protest and criminality, and called for popular cooperation to rebuild Nigerian society.
“We all are called to be imitators of Christ, to care for those who are sick among us, whether of HIV or other degenerative diseases or those handicapped,” he said, adding: “We should not be too afraid as we were during the coronavirus pandemic, [when] we would not visit, shake hands, or share a meal with others for fear of getting infected.”
The final communiqué from the bishops’ plenary, published on 22 February, included recommendations to address “the seriously deteriorating situation of the nation”, and warned: “The legitimacy of government depends on its capacity to protect life and property.”
It said that several economic polices “seem not to have been properly thought through”, and called instead for the promotion of small-scale industries and farming to restore prosperity and social cohesion.
“It is time to run government for the common good,” the communiqué said. “The nation needs to leave all polarisations behind and come together in unity and cohesion.
“We have both the natural and human resources to get this done. But those now in political power owe the nation the duty to create the enabling environment for all capable Nigerians to participate in the task of national rebirth. Politicians who are not in power and all other Nigerians now should be ready to offer their positive contribution, beyond all political party affiliation and sensitivity.”
Loading ...
