Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, on Monday declined to engage the Presidency in a public exchange over the recent criticism of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), insisting that the bishops had delivered their message to President Bola Tinubu and were now interested only in whether it would translate into better governance.
His remarks followed reactions from presidential aides after he disclosed that President Tinubu disagreed with the bishops’ assessment of the nation’s economy and security during a meeting at the State House, Abuja, on July 28.
Speaking during an interview on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese Ijebu, Ogun State, Onaiyekan said the bishops had no intention of exchanging words with government officials.
“I would not even answer that question. We have no response for them. We have spoken and the only response we are waiting for is whether it is affecting the way they are governing. That some of the supporters of government and the state and spokesperson may have their own idea about what they think they should be saying on behalf of their principal is their business, not mine,” he said.
He added, “As for response to the things that we are hearing, I don’t even have to say anything because the social media is full of response from the Nigerian people and that for me is more than enough.”
The Presidency had faulted the cardinal’s public account of the closed door meeting with the President. Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Daniel Bwala, argued that Onaiyekan spoke only for the Catholic Church and not for Christians generally. Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga also dismissed the bishops’ assessment, maintaining that the administration’s economic reforms were placing the country on the path to recovery.
Presidential Adviser, Temitope Ajayi, in a statement titled Cardinal Onaiyekan’s Abuse of Clerical Privilege, also criticised the cleric for publicly discussing what transpired during the meeting.
Responding to the criticism, Onaiyekan maintained that the intervention by the Catholic bishops was not driven by denominational interests but by their moral responsibility to speak on issues affecting all Nigerians.
“We didn’t go there just as Catholic bishops pushing the Catholic agenda. No. We went there as people who are with the spiritual mandate to speak to anybody in the name of God,” he said.
The cardinal explained that the audience with President Tinubu was requested by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference after months of waiting for approval and was intended to present concerns about governance rather than advance the interests of the Catholic Church.
“The Bishops visited President Tinubu last week and we requested for audience. It took some months before we were granted the audience and we prepared to see him. The main reason why we wanted to see him was not to go on an evangelical mission. We didn’t go there to preach to him or try to convert him to the Catholic Church. We went there to share our views and thoughts about the government which he heads, hoping that our ideas will be taken into consideration,” he said.
Onaiyekan expressed hope that the meeting would not be the last engagement between the bishops and the Federal Government.
“We are hoping that our meeting with the President or our dialogue with the government of Nigeria did not end with that visit,” he said.
He added that the bishops expected another opportunity to engage government in greater detail.
“We are hoping that somehow or the other, he will invite us, not necessarily to meet him, but at least to open up an avenue for us to give more information and express more concerns than we could in the ten minutes talk that we gave to him.”
The cleric also dismissed suggestions that the bishops were pursuing political interests, stressing that the Catholic Church prohibits its clergy from partisan politics.
“I have told you already that I am not even prepared to start engaging anybody. The document was prepared by the bishops of Nigeria and it was passed unanimously. We don’t have any political ambitions. Even our church does not allow us to engage in party politics,” he said.
On the economy, Onaiyekan acknowledged that government often pointed to positive macroeconomic indicators but argued that the true measure of success should be the living conditions of ordinary Nigerians.
“If we admit that the role of government is the welfare of citizens, then it means we are not going to judge the success of our government on the basis of statistics from GDP, the World Bank or whatever. The important thing is, how is the life of the Nigerian?”
He described youth unemployment as one of the country’s greatest challenges, saying many graduates remained unable to secure jobs or plan for their future.
“The terrible thing now is many of our young people that have struggled to finish university are all going around with their degrees. They are unable to get a job. Therefore, they can’t even think of marriage. They can’t think of starting a family. They can’t think of planning their life. That is terrible,” he said.
According to him, solving Nigeria’s problems requires political will, honesty and fairness rather than costly interventions.
“The only thing it takes is political will to do the right thing, to be honest in how government is run, to be just to everybody and to be fair in this,” he said.
The cardinal also called for broader engagement between the government and religious leaders across faiths, expressing the hope that Christian and Muslim leaders could jointly meet with the President to discuss issues affecting Nigerians.
“We are hoping that our message will be shared by other religious leaders in Nigeria, first other Christians in the context of CAN, and indeed other believers, including our Muslim religious leaders. It would be wonderful if we could organise a meeting with Mr. President and all the religious leaders in Nigeria, talking together,” he said.
