Cardinal says Nigerian president rejected bishops’ warning that ‘Nigeria is bleeding’
Nigerian bishops challenged the administration’s optimistic view of Nigeria amid what they described as violence, economic strain, and growing distrust in the country’s democracy.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu rejected a warning from the country’s Catholic bishops that mounting hardship and a narrowing political landscape are placing the nation’s stability at risk, according to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria’s (CBCN) news outlet.
Cardinal John Onaiyekan, archbishop emeritus of Abuja, joined other leaders of the CBCN in raising those concerns during a July 28 meeting with Tinubu at the State House in Abuja, the Daily Post reported.
“The president rejected our concerns of the country,” Cardinal Onaiyekan said according to the CBCN’s Nigeria Catholic Network. “Nigeria is bleeding.”
Cardinal Onaiyekan said Tinubu regularly receives a more favorable account of the country than the one the bishops presented.
“There are so many people hanging around Mr. President,” he said, “giving him a rosy picture of what the country is, which it is not.”
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The Nigeria Catholic Network reported that the bishops raised concerns about insecurity, economic hardship, and government policies whose promised relief had yet to reach Nigerians.
Their concerns extended to Nigeria’s political direction, with shrinking opposition fueling fears that the country could be moving toward one-party dominance.
Archbishop Matthew Man-Oso Ndagoso of Kaduna, president of the CBCN, pointed to Tinubu’s own fight against military rule as a reason to protect Nigeria’s democracy ahead of the 2027 elections.
“As a man who risked so much in the struggle for the return of democratic rule in the dark days of the military dictatorship,” Archbishop Ndagoso said, “your greatest legacy would be the strengthening of our democratic institutions.”
The bishops warned that anything short of a free, fair, and credible election would invite “an avoidable disaster.”
Tinubu maintained that the political environment remains fair. According to a July 28 press release from the Nigerian State House in Abuja, the president said the Independent National Electoral Commission had treated all parties equally.
“The opportunities are equal,” Tinubu said. “INEC is neutral. They have never intimidated anyone.”
His assessment of the country’s economic condition was similarly confident.
“This government has stabilised,” Tinubu said, “and there is prosperity on the horizon. Life is improving.”
Cardinal Onaiyekan said the bishops spoke candidly because they had a duty to present the conditions Nigerians face, even if Tinubu disagreed.
“We have the obligation,” he said, “to help him to appreciate the reality of the situation in which we find ourselves.”
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