The President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), Most Rev. Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, has issued a strong appeal to President Bola Tinubu to reconsider his current economic policies, as growing discontent among Nigerians suggests that these measures are doing more harm than good. Ugorji, who is also the Archbishop of Owerri, expressed these concerns during the opening session of the 2024 Second Plenary Assembly of the CBCN held in Auchi, Edo State, on Sunday.<\/p>\n
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In his address, Most Rev. Ugorji highlighted the deepening socio-economic challenges facing the country, which he believes have been exacerbated by the administration’s economic strategies. “Nigerians are no longer at ease with these policies. It seems they are causing more harm than good,” he stated, emphasizing the urgent need for the government to reassess its approach to economic management.<\/p>\n
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Ugorji argued that the nation’s issues extend far beyond what economic reforms alone can address. He stressed that, despite the intentions behind these policies, they are failing to deliver the desired relief to the populace. “The socio-economic problems of the nation are unmistakably beyond what economic reforms alone can effectively resolve, no matter how well thought-out and how meticulously implemented,” the Archbishop remarked, underscoring the complexity of Nigeria’s challenges.<\/p>\n
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In addition to critiquing the current economic policies, Most Rev. Ugorji advocated for a return to a regional system of government. He suggested that such a system could be a more effective means of addressing the root causes of Nigeria’s problems, including the pervasive issue of corruption. “It seems that the policies are no longer working. Therefore, we must consider returning to a regional system of government to checkmate corruption and put the nation on the right footing,” he proposed.<\/p>\n
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The Archbishop’s call for a regional system is rooted in the belief that Nigeria’s federal structure, as it currently operates, has failed to deliver equitable development and has instead entrenched corruption and inefficiency. By decentralizing power and resources to regional governments, Ugorji believes that governance could become more responsive and accountable to the needs of the people.<\/p>\n
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He further explained that the problems in the country have escalated to a point where mere economic reforms, no matter how well-intended, are insufficient. “The problems in the country have gone beyond mere economic reforms,” Ugorji asserted, suggesting that a fundamental restructuring of the governance framework is necessary to address the underlying issues.<\/p>\n
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The CBCN President’s remarks come at a time when many Nigerians are grappling with the harsh realities of economic hardship, including rising inflation, unemployment, and the high cost of living. There has been widespread criticism of some of President Tinubu’s policies, particularly those related to the removal of fuel subsidies and the devaluation of the naira, which have led to increased financial strain on ordinary citizens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), Most Rev. Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, has issued a strong appeal to President Bola Tinubu to reconsider his current economic policies, as growing discontent among Nigerians suggests that these measures are doing more harm than good. Ugorji, who is also the Archbishop of Owerri, expressed these […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":40813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-45403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45403"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45404,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45403\/revisions\/45404"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}