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The Catholic Bishops of Owerri Ecclesiastical Province has expressed concern that the Federal Government’s reforms have not yet brought the renewed hope promised.
The bishops stressed that despite the reform promised, inflation, hunger and anger kept growing in the country.
This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of their two-day meeting, held at Sacred Heart Pastoral/Retreat Centre, Orlu, signed by the Chairman and Secretary, Most Rev. Lucius Ugorji and Most Rev. Augustine Echema, respectively.
The Bishops said: “Our nation, Nigeria, continues to face many social and economic challenges that are bringing untold hardship to our people.
“The reforms that were introduced at the inception of the current administration have not brought the renewed hope promised. Instead, inflation continues to rise and hunger and anger continue to grow.
“Despite calls by the government for the people to sacrifice and bear the hard times, there seems to be no corresponding example of prudent spending on the part of the leaders at all levels of government.
“It is not as if we want to jump on the bandwagon preaching doom and gloom for the nation, but the truth remains that for the last couple of years, we, as a nation, have missed the chance to build a strong nation, to elect leaders who have the capacity and the will to meet the needs of the people, to build a nation where the national interest overrides every tribal, political and religious division.
“We do not deny that progress has been made in particular sectors of national life; progress for which we all rejoice, yet many areas of work remain and the palpable fear is that there might be no redeeming future if things continue to go the way they are going at the moment.”
The Bishops also affirmed, “Good governance and socio-economic stability will continue to elude us, if we collectively do not decide to strengthen our political institutions, if we do not improve transparency, efficiency, and accountability in all our public institutions.
“It will be naive for us to imagine that leadership alone can resolve all the issues that bedevil our country.
“The failure of leadership reflects equally the failure of followership. It is obvious then that both leadership and followership in Nigeria have responsibilities to fulfill, to move our nation forward.
“We need proper leadership in the various sectors and cadres of our country, be it business, politics, public service, security agencies, and other essential services. All of these different sectors must come together as part of the same wheel of progress.
“Unfortunately, what has continued to elude us is visionary leadership. Ever since our independence, one regime after another, has started and abandoned its agenda, shown a lack of continuity, and promoted mediocrity and ineptitude in governance."
