Thesearchlight.com

By Matthews Otalike, The Searchlight Correspondent / September 18, 2026

The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria has expressed grave concern on the use of poverty as a despicable instrument of control in Nigeria. They noted that hardship and lack of basic needs have left many families to struggle to survive despite the country’s national wealth. 

Rising from their second plenary at Oshogbo, the Catholic Bishops, in their communique, “demand that government at all levels create more job opportunities, provide enabling environment for growth, support local businesses, and manage economic policies that ease the financial burden on the poor. Concerted efforts, therefore, must be made by the federal and state governments to drastically reduce poverty, pain and suffering of our people. Still more, Government should work to provide enabling policies for private sector participation. At the same time, we encourage our citizens to practice honest labour, support local enterprises, and avoid criminality and corrupt practices.”

On the state of Nigeria, the Bishops stated; “We continue to thank God for the numerous human and natural resources with which he has endowed our nation. We equally appreciate the positive efforts our governments and citizens are making in keeping our nation united despite all odds. We call on everyone to work together in building a nation that promotes integral human development. It is, however, regrettable that insecurity, poverty, poor infrastructure, bad governance, and assault on human dignity have continued to ravage our nation and its citizens.”

The Catholic Bishops noted the move by government to decentralize the police system to tackle insecurity in our nation and requested that “such a re-organization should be deployed for the common good rather than for personal, ethnic, political and religious interests. We observe that incidents of widespread violence, kidnapping, banditry, illegal mining and stealing of our common natural resources persist. All these rob citizens of peace and threaten the unity of the nation. In a special way, we demand Government to do all that is necessary to stop banditry and recover the vast portions of land used for this criminal activity and ensure a productive and beneficial use of the land.

The clerics expressed concern that the invasion of schools and places of worship and abduction or even killing of students and worshippers still go on, and the “massive displacement of communities in some parts of our nation has taken a toll on the social, economic and political lives of our people, with millions of people in IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camps across the country. We enjoin Government to intensify efforts and impactful actions to enable the displaced persons return to their ancestral homes. We equally urge government at all levels to ensure that all people including migrants and refugees are treated with respect and human dignity with their basic rights and needs guaranteed and respected. While we pray for the repose of those who have been killed, we encourage Government to strengthen security forces, deploy better intelligence, and hold wrongdoers accountable. We ask our people to report suspicious activities, cooperate with security agencies, and reject ethnic or religious divisions.”

Poor Infrastructure

They lamented the bad roads, erratic power supply, and failing public utilities slow down economic growth and daily life and charged the government to transparently invest more funds in public amenities, repair vital roads, and ensure steady electricity and clean water; adding, “We particularly demand that railway transport facilities be provided throughout the nation to enhance socio-economic life of our people. We also ask our people to protect public property from vandalism and report corrupt practices about infrastructural projects.”

FOREIGN AIDS (REGULATION, TRANSPARENCY AND DISCLOSURE) BILL 2026

The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria observed that this Bill, which has passed the first and second readings in the National Assembly, will have negative impact in the society as some of its provisions require registration of foreign aid resources and mandate authorities to supervise the use of the resources.  “These sound good but have the potentials to adversely affect churches, mosques, schools, and humanitarian groups that provide critical aid in conflict-affected or vulnerable groups. This Bill, which allows authorities to deny registration or refuse renewals if an organization’s work is deemed “not in the national interest”, gives broad, undue discretionary powers to government officials. Again, the Bill risks creating an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy, duplicating existing laws, and granting excessive government control that could stifle independent civic space”.

As the 2027 elections approach, the CBCN called on all stakeholders to work for free, fair and credible elections. “We encourage eligible voters to come out en masse to vote qualified people into offices and in line with their good consciences. We invite all dioceses and parishes in our nation to embark on civic education, mobilization and end-of-month fasting and prayer with Rosary processions from October to December 2026 in preparation for the elections. We announce that 8 December 2026 will be observed as special and national day for prayer and fasting for the success of the elections.”