President Bola Tinubu, on Tuesday assured leaders of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) that the government overhaul of the security architecture would ultimately crush terrorism, banditry, and kidnapping nationwide.
Hosting a delegation of 19 CBCN leaders at the State House, led by Conference President, Most Rev. Matthew Ndagoso, Tinubu pointed to fresh investment in equipment, new barracks, and an expanded military as proof the fight is being taken seriously.
The President, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Information & Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, urged the bishops to use their pulpits to rally support against the insurgency and to help hold the country together.
President Tinubu also declared that Nigeria’s economy has pulled back from the edge of collapse he says he inherited, describing a nation moving from crisis toward stability and growing prosperity.
He pointed to sustained programmes like the student loan initiative, NELFUND and the return of striking university lecturers to classrooms as signs of forward motion.
On the 2027 elections, Tinubu insisted the electoral Commission is playing it straight, dismissing opposition complaints as misplaced anxiety rather than evidence of bias.
For their part, the bishops pressed their own priorities- better security, expanded university access, protection of democratic gains, and fair vote in 2027.
Ndagoso, Archbishop of Kaduna, also renewed the church’s long-standing call for state governors to hand mission schools back to religious control, and challenge Tinubu to make strengthening democratic institutions his defining legacy.
The meeting also touched on the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Nigeria and the Vatican, following a recent visit by a senior Holy See official.
