AFRICA/NIGERIA - President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference: “Youth unemployment is a time bomb”

Abuja (Agenzia Fides) - “Food inflation has hit 39.84 percent, making it nearly impossible for families to afford three meals a day”. This is the alarm raised by Lucius Ugorji, Archbishop of Owerri and President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) at the opening of the this year’s first Plenary Assembly of the CBCN in Abuja. “The statistics are alarming, 129 million Nigerians are now living in multidimensional poverty. Palliatives and temporary relief programmes are not enough. We need sustainable solutions that address the root causes of economic hardship”, stressed Msgr. Ugorji in his speech which had wide echo in the Nigerian media.
While acknowledging that "the economic reforms introduced by President Bola Tinubu’s administration aims at stabilising the economy in the long term," the CBCN Chairman said, "they have significantly triggered sky-rocketing inflation, drastically reduced the purchasing power of Nigerians, and plunged millions into poverty."
"The World Bank projects that 129 million Nigerians now live below the poverty line. The 2024 Global Report on Food Crisis lists Nigeria as the second globally in terms of acute food insecurity, with 24 million people categorised as food insecure,” said Archbishop Ugorji.
The President of the CBCN described the high youth unemployment rate, currently at 53 percent, as “a ticking time bomb.”
According to Archbishop Ugorji, the rise in criminal activities such as kidnapping, armed robbery, cyber fraud, drug abuse, sectarianism and ritual killings (including human sacrifices) is directly linked to the desperation of millions of jobless Nigerian youth. “The situation is even worsened by mass layoffs due to the collapse of many companies under the weight of a harsh and hostile economic climate,” the Archbishop of Owerri added. “We cannot be tired of urging the government at all levels to take youth unemployment seriously. Until there is a massive, ongoing creation of jobs, the government may continue to lose the war against insecurity and violent crime,” the CBCN President warned. “Furthermore, we should continue to appeal to corrupt leaders, who loot public coffers to be mindful of the dangers of provoking the populace to effect change through violent uprising. They should learn from the history of revolutions.”
“To reverse this sad trend, there is a need to uphold fundamental rights. We should tirelessly insist on good governance that is rooted in free, fair and credible general elections. We should continue to empower our people through civic education and the church’s social teaching,” he concluded. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 10/3/2025)

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