Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has expressed total disappointment at President Ahmed Tinubu’s economic reforms, lamenting that despite its mouthed positive effects, millions of Nigerians are still living in abject poverty.
CBCN President, His Grace, Archbishop Lucious Ugorji disclosed this in his address at the opening session of the 2025 First Plenary Meeting at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN) Resource Centre, Abuja at the weekend.
He regretted that despite the positive intentions of the President’s reforms such as rehabilitation of some dilapidated roads, construction of new ones across the country, introduction of the student loan schemes, new minimum wage among others, the state of the nation “remains bleak as dark clouds of uncertainty and despondency continue to gather.”
“Nigerians have continued to endure increasing hardship on account of the harsh socio-economic situation in the country, including high cost of petroleum products, transportation and essential goods,” Archbishop Ugorji stressed.
“While the economic reforms introduced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration aim 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.
“According to data drawn from the National Bureau of Statistics, food inflation hit 39.84% in December 2024. It is reported that Nigerians now spend about 65% of their income on food alone. Thus healthcare and other basic necessities are sacrificed.
“Government’s efforts to alleviate the sufferings of the citizenry through the distribution of palliatives, duty waivers on imported food items, and other measures have remained the tip of the iceberg. Indeed, Nigerians have continued to suffer and die.
“Moreover, the resultant daily stress is having a heavy toll on the mental health of many parents as they overstretch themselves to make ends meet.”
On insecurity, the cleric further lamented that it is at its worst, especially kidnapping and targeting of priests.
“Insecurity still persists, and is even getting worse across the nation as the ‘armies’ of the boko haram, bandits, unknown gunmen and Fulani herdsmen continue to grow in number, as well as in acts of wickedness and barbarism,” he lamented.
“Kidnapping for ransom and the mindless killing of innocent people are on the rise, with the targeting of priests and religious across the country. While we speak, Fr. Philip Ekweli of Auchi Diocese and a major seminarian abducted with him on 3 March, 2025 are still being held in captivity by their abductors, while Fr. Sylvester Okechukwu of Kafanchan Diocese, who was kidnapped and brutally butchered on 4 March, 2025 is yet to be buried. May he rest in peace.
“Furthermore, more and more communities are terrorised, traumatised, displaced, impoverished and their ancestral homes taken over by their conquerors. 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!”
Although the bishops acknowledged the efforts of the security agencies in tackling the menace, they pointed out that such efforts won’t go far enough without use of modern technology.
“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,” Archbishop Ugorji said.
The bishops maintained that unemployment has remained a major concern in the country with 53 percent out of its 70 percent population remaining unemployed.
“Nigeria is second to South Africa which records 61% youth unemployment. The situation is foreseen to worsen with institutions of learning in the country turning out more and more graduates into the labour market annually.
“Unfortunately, most of the unemployed youths seem unemployable because they lack the skills in demand in the job market. The situation is even worsened by the layoff of workers due to the folding up of many companies and multinational corporations on account of the present harsh and hostile economic atmosphere in the country.
“This dismal atmosphere seems to condemn many jobless youths to a life of purposelessness and despair, and is leading many into involvement in criminal activities, including kidnapping, armed robbery, drug abuse, yahoo plus, and cultism in search of extraordinary spiritual powers for instant prosperity without working for it.
“It is very worrisome that many of our youths are compromising their faith, and feel attracted to pagan shrines, devilish native doctors, idolatry, amulets and charms, ritual killings, and human sacrifice these days.
“To say the least, unemployment among youths is a ticking time bomb, since frustration and disillusionment makes them easy prey to radicalisation, initiation into dangerous cults, and recruitment by different armed and terrorist gangs to cause mayhem in the nation.
“We cannot tire ourselves of urging governments at all levels to give serious attention to solving the problem of youth unemployment and joblessness. Unless and until the government attends to the problem of youth joblessness by massively creating job opportunities in an ongoing manner, it may continue to lose the war against insecurity and violent crimes in the nation,” Ugorji warned.
Also expressing concern about Nigeria’s Correctional Centres, he applauded the administration of former President Muhammed Buhari for its prison reform plans but regretted that the plans remained largely unimplemented.
He said: “The Nigerian Correctional Services Bill signed by President Muhammadu Buhari on 14 August, 2019 was a landmark in the history of Prison Services in Nigeria. It was a move from the perception of the prison as a centre for retribution to a “correctional” facility with focus on reformation, rehabilitation and reintegration.
“It made laudable provisions for the medical, psychological, spiritual and counselling service of offenders and the deployment of educational and vocational skills training programmes, aimed at assisting them to become useful and productive citizens after their discharge. Unfortunately, there are a lot of gaps in its implementation.
“Despite the efforts of President Buhari at reforming our federal correctional centres, the situation in these custodial centres has remained largely deplorable and inhuman. They are marked by outdated, dilapidated, ill-maintained, and very filthy infrastructure. Due to their horrible unsanitary condition, these centres are also infamous for their offensive odours which encourage the spread of disease.
“Inmates of these centres are thrown into overcrowded, squalid and unhealthy cells. Twenty people, for instance, could be crammed into a cell meant for five. Consequently, they have to sleep at night in shifts because of lack of space.
“Essential amenities such as food, potable water and medical care seem to be luxuries that are not always available in the centres. Depending on the correctional centre, the number of inmates awaiting trial ranges from 60 – 90%.
“Thus suspects may stay in the facility many years longer than they would have if they were promptly sentenced for their alleged offences. Many are subjected to inhuman and degrading physical and psychological abuse which exposes them to severe emotional disturbance, including, anxiety and depression.
“To say the least, their mistreatment is an affront on human dignity and rights. Inhuman treatment, extended imprisonment without court hearing, and violation of fundamental rights in our federal correctional centres undermine our judicial process and perpetuate injustice.
“To reverse this sad trend, there is need to uphold the fundamental rights of inmates, treat them with dignity, expedite the dispensation of justice, decongest the existing custodial centres by granting parole to well-behaved minor offenders, rehabilitate the existing facilities, and construct new correctional centres to alleviate overcrowding.”
However, despite the challenges the CBCN president noted that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
“The Jubilee Year of Hope is a suitable occasion to advocate such reforms of our federal correctional centres and lobby for the full implementation of the reforms initiated by the administration of President Buhari,” Archbishop Ugorji declared.
“Hope does not Disappoint (Rom 5:5). Inspired by Pope Francis, who on account of the sad and depressive happenings around the world declared the 2025 Jubilee Year a Jubilee of Hope, our Conference chose the topic “Jubilee of Hope: A Light for a New Nigeria” as the theme for this plenary assembly.
“This theme is apt and timely, given that many of our people are distraught in the face of the mounting socio-economic and security challenges facing our nation and tend to live a life driven by frustration, disillusionment and despair.
“Creating a New Nigeria by rekindling hope in our nation while we put our hope in our Lord and continue to pray for a better nation, we must play our role to create a new Nigeria by bringing about necessary change and so rekindling hope once more in our nation among many people driven to frustration and despair by protracted hardship.
“As Church leaders, to rekindle hope in our nation, we should not get tired of proclaiming the gospel of love and hope, peace and reconciliation, justice and fair-play. As the voice of the voiceless, we should, with uncompromising energy, continue denouncing corruption, injustice, oppression, and exploitation of the poor and weak, which have held our nation down.
“Since our political and economic woes stem mainly from corrupt and self-seeking political elites, who manipulate the electoral process to grab power, and who divert our national resources for their own benefit, 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 also 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.”
Ugorji warned leaders in the country to be faithful and serve with diligence and avoid acts capable of sparking a revolution in the land.
“Nigerians should learn from the history of revolutions. As citizens of Nigeria, we must always be conscious that power belongs to us, the people.
“To rekindle hope in our nation, we cannot afford to remain indifferent while we are disenfranchised, and our resources misappropriated or mismanaged. We should always stand up against bad governance, and form the habit of demanding transparency and accountability from those who manage public property on our behalf.
“If we are to expect probity from our political leaders and public officials, we must all have an attitudinal change and endeavour to be more disciplined, law-abiding and patriotic. We must shun corruption, ethnocentrism, religious bigotry and parochialism always, and especially during general elections.
“We should root out every trace of these evils in our lives, and embrace integrity, fraternity, broadmindedness and impartiality. By doing so, we would be able to ensure that only competent, public-spirited and honest people are elected to sit at the helm of affairs in our nation.
“Election rigging should not force us into voter apathy during general elections. As patriotic citizens, we should always exercise our franchise at general elections and stand by to defend our votes by ensuring that they are counted and that they count.”
