The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has called on President Bola Tinubu to urgently address the present economic challenges in the country to avoid further hardship on Nigerians.
President of CBCN Archbishop Lucious Ugorji made the call on Sunday in his welcome address at the opening session of the 2024 Second Plenary Assembly of the Catholic Bishops held at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Auchi, Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo.
Ugorji, who is the Archbishop of Owerri Diocese, also condemned the recent kidnapping at Otukpo of some Catholic medical students from the Universities of Maiduguri and Jos, who were on their way to Enugu but thanked God for their freedom.
He commended the security agents and others who assisted in ensuring that they were released, noting that insecurity remained one of the major challenges in the country.
According to him, the economic challenges have caused multidimensional poverty and untold hardship, hence, the youth decided to embark on a nationwide protest tagged “Endbadgovernance”.
“The protest was as a result of disappointment and frustration faced by many Nigerians.
“Though Nigerians have the constitutional right to express their grievances through peaceful protest, there was a widespread concern that the planned protest could be hijacked by miscreants to unleash mayhem on the nation.
“We wish to stress that as the nation is afflicted with poverty, hardship and corruption and as long as the future of youths in our nation remains bleak, we must continue to reckon with the youths’ protest,” he said.
