‘Nigerians groaning in hardship’ — Catholic bishops ask FG to address food insecurity

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has called on the federal government to address the escalating food insecurity in the country.

In a communiqué issued at the end of their conference held in Auchi Diocese, Edo state, between August 22 and 30, the bishops said there have been no “visible efforts by the government to reduce the cost of governance”.

“The government officials keep calling for patience and sacrifice, but their call does not fall well on the rest of the citizens who continue to suffer hunger and dehumanizing poverty, while those in power live an affluent lifestyle, with no visible effort at reducing the cost of governance,” the communique, signed by Lucius Iwejuru, the CBN president, reads.

“There is an unfortunate general feeling in the nation that we are stuck in a tight web of corruption from which we cannot extricate ourselves.

“There are economic policies that seem to be in favour of those in the corridors of power and their cronies in the business sector.”

The bishops also denounced the use of violence by some people and the killing of some protesting citizens by security operatives during the #EndBadGovernance protest.

“Yet, we reaffirm the constitutional right of every Nigerian to peaceful protests. We wish to stress that as long as the nation is afflicted with poverty, hardship, and corruption, and as long as the future of people remains bleak, we must continue to reckon with protests,” the Catholic bishops said.

“We call on governments at all levels to address the issues that engender protests and release all who are being detained for their support and expression of their constitutional rights to protest within the ambit of the law.

“Nigerians are currently groaning under the yoke of hardship, which is fueled by high electricity tariffs, high cost of petroleum products, transportation, and medicare, and a general lack of basic infrastructure.

“This situation has been heightened by the grave threat of food insecurity and malnutrition due to the increasing cost of basic food items.

“We recognise the efforts of governments to deal with this problem, such as the declaration of a state of emergency on food insecurity, the importation of food, the cash transfer scheme, and the distribution of palliatives to the most vulnerable.

“Nevertheless, it is sad to observe that, in spite of these measures, the prices of food items have continued to surge.

“We demand that governments put in place policies, programmes and initiatives that would address the multi-faceted factors that adversely affect food security with a good action plan for implementation, such as provision of safety and security to farmers and their crops across the country.”