President Bola Tinubu has urged Nigerians to use their diversity for the country’s stability and rapid development.

According to a release by his spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, the President spoke yesterday in Rome when he received members of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria. He also issued a stirring call to leaders at all levels to work for the betterment of the citizenry.

Tinubu, a Muslim, said: “If we use our diversity not for adversity but for prosperity, the country’s hope is stability and progress.”

He described it as historic, being the President of Nigeria when a new Pope was inaugurated in Rome. The Catholic bishops were part of the President’s delegation to attend Pope Leo XIV’s installation mass yesterday.

Archbishop Lucius Ugorji, Archbishop of Owerri and President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, thanked Tinubu for facilitating their visits to the Vatican to bury the late Pope Francis and witness the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV.

He said the development signalled a new era of a more robust relationship between the President and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference.

“You are always there for us. Now that you have come to the Vatican, when ever we have our conference in Nigeria, we will also invite you, and we look forward to interfacing with you just as you were able to do with the Holy Father,” he said.

Archbishops Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja, Alfred Martins of Lagos, and Mathew Hassan Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, attended the meeting with the President.