The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), has said Nigeria needs political leaders who have a high moral profile and were competent to design the appropriate policies needed to develop and grow the country economically.
President CBCN and Archbishop of Owerri, Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji who spoke at the opening Session of the 2025 first plenary meeting themed “Jubilee of Hope: A Light for a New Nigeria” on Sunday in Abuja, said there was an urgent need to create a new Nigeria free from socio-economic and security challenges, frustration, disillusionment and despair.
He said: “To create a new Nigeria and rekindle the hope of the populace, our nation needs political leaders of high moral profile, who are able to administer public goods in line with the principles of honesty, transparency and accountability.
The Cleric who blamed the current economic and political woes in the country on the political elite hungry to grab power through any means possible, appealed to Nigerians not to be discouraged from exercising their civic rights rather, come out in mass to vote out incompetent and corrupt leaders.
“Since our political and economic woes stem mainly from corrupt and self-seeking political elite, 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. They 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, broad mindedness and impartiality. By so doing, 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.
“In our protracted suffering as a nation, it is belabouring the obvious to stress that we need to come together during general elections to elect competent leaders that are able to design appropriate policies needed to increase economic growth.”
Worried over the worsening state of insecurity in the country, the Cleric questioned federal government’s delay in deploying high technology to complement the efforts of security operatives in addressing the kidnapping and killings of Nigerians in different parts of the country
“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 of 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 government has not deployed high technology to complement the efforts of security operatives.”
Expressing concerns over the worsening harsh socioeconomic situation and youth unemployment rates in the country, Ugorji urged Nigerians and church leaders to play their roles towards creating a new Nigeria by bringing about necessary change and rekindling hope as they continue to pray.
“The situation is foreseen to worsen with institutions 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 despair and purposelessness, thus leading many into criminal activities such as kidnapping, armed robbery, drug abuse, yahoo plus, and cultism in search of extraordinary spiritual powers for instant prosperity without working for it.
“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. However, youth unemployment is a ticking time bomb, since frustration and disillusionment makes them easy preys to radicalisation, initiation into dangerous cults, and recruitment by different armed and terrorist gangs to cause mayhem in the nation.
“We cannot be tired of urging the government at all levels to give serious attention to solving the problem of youth unemployment and joblessness. Unless and until 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.
“As Church leaders, to rekindle hope in our nation, we should not get tired 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.”
Raising concerns over the implementation gaps in the Nigerian Correctional Services Bill, the CBCN President who called for full implementation of the Bill, insisted inmates must be treated with dignity.
“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.
“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.
“The Jubilee Year of Hope is a suitable occasion to advocate for such reforms of our federal correctional centres and lobby for the full implementation of the reforms initiated by the administration of President Buhari.”
