The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) yesterday warned corrupt public officials about “the dangers of provoking the populace to effect change through violent uprisings”.
President Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, who spoke at the opening session of the 2025 first plenary meeting of the conference in Abuja, bemoaned the severe economic hardship, youth unemployment, election rigging, and security challenges facing the country fuelled by bad leadership and large-scale corruption.
The Archbishop of Owerri said there was an urgent need to create a new Nigeria free from socioeconomic 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 can administer public goods in accordance with the principles of honesty, transparency, and accountability.”
Ugorji added: “Since our political and economic woes stem mainly from the 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. “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 uprisings.
“They should learn from the history of revolutions.” The CBCN questioned the Federal Government’s delay in deploying high technology to address the abduction and killing of Nigerians in different parts of the country.
The clerics said: “More and more communities are terrorised, traumatised, displaced, impoverished and their ancestral homes are 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.”
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. He lamented job losses because of the government’s harsh economic policy.
He said: “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.
