Presidency-Catholic Bishops Saga: When Defenders Are Attackers

 By Adekunle Adekoya

I really don’t think there is anybody living in this country at the moment that is satisfied with the state of affairs. Don’t let me bore you — everyone knows where it’s pinching hardest — whether in the cost of transportation, or the risen and rising cost of food, or near-unaffordable accommodation, sky-high cost of fuel energy (gas, petrol, diesel), insecurity, etcetira. If there is anybody as yet untouched by these, such a person, or group of persons must be doing things we can’t do, or know not how to do to make money. As a result, people are worried, and perplexed at the state of affairs.

*Tinubu with the Catholic Bishops

This Friday morning, not a few people would have woken up from disturbed sleep caused by an empty stomach, and worse, they can’t even see the prospects for a breakfast, no matter how little. So, when top clerics of the Catholic Church, specifically the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria sought and obtained an audience with the president on this undesirable state of affairs, I think they were doing a duty to seek better options for all of us, irrespective of our diverse faiths.

Elections, Terrorism And 2022 In Retrospect

 By Sonnie Ekwowusi

Nearly 645 people lost their lives in diverse circumstances across Kaduna State in the first six months of 2022. Speaking under the aegis of Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU), the then acting President of SOKAPU Awemi Dio Maisamari had stated that the terrorists had not only captured and occupied Kaduna State but had been “running the government’ in the State since 2019. He lamented that most rural communities and villages in Kaduna State especially in Chikun, Kajuru, Kachia, Zangon Kataf, Kauru, Lere, Birnin Gwari and Giwa Local Councils had not only been deserted but occupied by the religious terrorists.

The Catholic Church tearfully will not forget the year 2022 in a hurry. In 2022 alone, 39 Catholic Priests were murdered and 30 abducted in Nigeria by terrorists. However Sahara Reporters reports that 145 Catholics priests were killed in 2022. Only God knows the number of Catholic Priests who would be murdered in 2023. Already one Catholic Priest has been murdered on January 15 2023. In fact, on January 14, 2023, Fr. Michael Olofinlade, a Catholic priest in Omu Ekiti, Oye Local Government, Ekiti State was kidnapped.