Archbishop Emeritus of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, says President Bola Tinubu rejected concerns raised by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) during their recent meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Onaiyekan made the disclosure on Friday during an interview on Arise Television’s Prime Time. He reflected on the discussions between the bishops and the President.
Bishops presented Nigeria’s reality
The cardinal said the bishops deliberately presented what they considered the true state of the country. According to him, they chose not to repeat the positive reports they believed the President often receives from people around him.
He explained that the bishops considered it their responsibility to give an honest assessment of Nigeria’s challenges, even though the message was difficult to deliver.
“The president rejected our concerns of the country. Nigeria is bleeding. I was not surprised that he was not looking very happy. Not even his colleagues who were there,” Onaiyekan said.
‘We had a duty to tell him the truth’
Onaiyekan said the bishops knew their position differed from the reports usually presented to the President.
He added that many people around Tinubu continue to paint a rosy picture of the country’s situation. Consequently, the bishops felt they had a duty to present a different perspective.
“We knew that this is different from the kind of statements that our president keeps receiving from all kinds of people, and that is one of the things that worries us,” he said.
The cardinal stressed that the bishops could not ignore the realities facing Nigerians.
“There are so many people hanging around Mr President, giving him a rosy picture of what the country is, which it is not, and we felt that we have no duty to do that,” he said.
Tinubu disagreed with the bishops
According to Onaiyekan, the bishops believed they had an obligation to help the President better understand the country’s situation. He said they expected Tinubu to disagree with their position. Therefore, they were not surprised by his reaction.
“Indeed, we have the obligation to help him appreciate the reality of the situation in which we find ourselves, and that is the reality that we painted, which I know is not the kind of thing that he wanted to hear. In reply, he was very clear,” he said.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference recently met with President Tinubu at the State House in Abuja. During the meeting, the President maintained that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) remained neutral and that Nigeria’s economy was performing well.
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