By Rev. Fr. Anthony Adetayo

The Catholic Bishops of Ibadan Ecclesiastical Province, comprising Ibadan Archdiocese, Ilorin, Ondo, Oyo, Ekiti and Osogbo Dioceses, after prayerful deliberations at their meeting at the Domus Pacis Pastoral Institute, Igoba, Akure, Ondo State, between Monday 29^th July and Tuesday 30^th July 2024, issued a communiqué addressing the current state of the country and the church at large.

Speaking to the issue of the looming national protest, the Bishops hold that “protests are not meant to provide solutions to problems. Protests are held as a last resort for citizens who have cried out for solutions to problems and have not been heeded. Protests are the last resort for amplifying the voice of those who feel oppressed. The protests in Nigeria should be made to serve that purpose and none other.” They however called for a profound sense of responsibility for the protesters. “The protesters should exercise restraint and not disturb or intimidate those who may choose not to participate in the exercise knowing that it is their inalienable right not to do so. The organizers of the protest have therefore a responsibility to ensure all these or call off the protest.”

Cautioning the governing style of the present administration, the Bishop said “Governance by palliatives, by intimidation or by hide and seek methods cannot provide a permanent solution to the challenges faced by the country. During this protest therefore relevant security organizations must show restraint and civility in discharging their duties and avoid violence and accidental deaths which unfortunately seem to have characterized past exercises in Nigeria.”

The Bishops also call for a collective force from every citizen. “In like manner we now exhort all Nigerians to join hands together to rescue this nation. Nigeria is a great country, and we are a great people and to this we all agree.”

The Bishops offered strong words against the disrespectful display and parody of religion with particular reference to the decadent caricature of one of the most cherished events of Christianity, “The Last Supper”, in France at the 2024 Olympics opening ceremony. They insist that “it is a perpetration of deliberate ongoing attempts in Europe and America to repurpose and demean Christian themes without regard for peace loving Christians who practice and profess their religion in peace.”

They call on all Christians in this year of prayer that leads into 2025 Jubilee of Hope as declared by the Pope, to continue to pray, quoting the psalmist , “Just as the eyes of slaves are on their masters’ hand, or the eyes of a slave-girl on the hand of her mistress, so our eyes are on Yahweh our God, for him to take pity in us” (Ps. 123:1).