By Rev. Fr. Anthony Adetayo

The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Ijebu-Ode, Most Rev. Francis Obafemi Adesina, in a statement released on Saturday 27th July 2024 has appealed to Nigerians to pray for peace and stability in the country. He urged citizens to refrain from violence during possible protests against the government, instead advocating for peaceful expressions of grievances through dialogue, petitions, and town hall meetings. You will recall that the social media is stuffed with the rumours of protest from August 1 to August 10, 2024 to call the attention of the Government to the difficulty faced by Nigerians.

Bishop Adesina emphasized the need for the government to address the root causes of the protests, including economic hardship, insecurity, and corruption. He encouraged the government to work towards finding sustainable solutions to the country’s challenges including food inflation, epileptic and expensive power supply, unaffordability of petroleum products etc.

This call for peace is reminiscent of the 2020 peaceful protest led by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) against the “brutal killing of innocent Nigerians” and the high level of insecurity in the country. The CBCN had called on the government to take action against terrorism and extremism.

“My dear Catholic Faithful and especially the youths , remain law abiding citizens of our dear country. Your life matters and I do not support any violence or destructive activities.”

In addition, the Bishop encouraged the masses, “it’s time to manage resources as tough times don’t last, only tough people do. You’re in my prayers and things will get better with time. We cannot give up on hope, we cannot give up on a better future for ourselves and our children”. The Bishop encouraged more prayers for Nigeria in distress in this year of Prayer as declared by the Supreme Pontiff; Pope Francis.