Northern CAN Chairman Defends Catholic Bishops, Says They Echoed Nigerians’ Realities on Hardship

By Ogungbayi Adeyemi S. | adeyemi@ddnewsonline.com
Editor, DDNews |

DDNewsOnline – Lagos, August 4, 2026

The Chairman of the NCA, Rev. John Joseph Hayab, has defended the Catholic Bishops’ criticism of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, saying the clerics merely echoed the daily realities confronting Nigerians and were unfairly dismissed by the presidency.

Speaking on Tuesday during an interview on Trust TV’s Day Break programme, Hayab noted that the concerns raised by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) reflected widespread public sentiment rather than a denominational or partisan position.

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According to him, issues such as hunger, insecurity, the weakening value of the naira, and declining public confidence in Nigeria’s political system are obvious realities that cannot be denied.

“Anything the Catholic bishops said is not just a Christian position; it is a Nigerian feeling. It is a Nigerian reality,” Hayab said.

He questioned whether anyone could genuinely dispute the existence of hunger, insecurity and economic hardship across the country, insisting that the bishops merely conveyed what ordinary Nigerians have been telling them.

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“They reminded the president of what they are hearing from Nigerians because people go to their bishops and ask, ‘Aren’t you watching? Nigerians are hungry. There is insecurity. Everything seems to be moving towards a one-party state,’” the cleric said.

Hayab said the bishops believed they have a moral responsibility to communicate those concerns directly to the president so that corrective action could be taken where necessary.

He criticised Tinubu’s response to the bishops’ observations, describing it as unnecessary and noted that those advising the president were doing him a disservice.

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“If he actually read it from his prepared speech, then his speechwriters have a serious problem because they are not helping this president,” Hayab said.

Hayab maintained that the president should have simply acknowledged the concerns raised and expressed willingness to engage further.

“All he needed to say was, ‘I have heard you. We are doing our best, but your further information will help us identify where the gaps are so we can correct them,’” he said.

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Instead, he said, the tone of the response raised questions about the quality of advice reaching the president.

“To use such language against people who were not seeking contracts, political appointments or personal gain, but were genuinely concerned about the country, shows that our president has either been caged, misinformed or terribly misled by some people, so that he does not understand what Nigerians are going through,” Hayab said.

The CAN leader also rejected attempts to portray the controversy as a dispute involving only the Catholic Church, stressing that Christian leaders across denominations command respect because of their spiritual roles rather than their church affiliations.

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“We respect our bishops, just as we respect Pastor Kumuyi, Pastor Adeboye, Bishop Oyedepo, the Anglican Primate, the Methodist Prelate, the Baptist President and many others,” he said. “We respect them because they preach Christ, not because of the denomination they belong to.”

Hayab argued that attaching political motives to the bishops’ comments was unfair and distracted attention from the substantive issues they raised.

He emphasised that acknowledging achievements recorded by the Tinubu administration should not prevent the government from confronting the suffering experienced by millions of Nigerians.

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“No one is saying this government has done nothing,” he said. “But despite whatever has been achieved, we must ask whether the ordinary Nigerian can feel the impact.”

He pointed to what he described as the contradiction between improving macroeconomic indicators and worsening living conditions.

“You may have huge foreign reserves, but people are going to bed hungry. You may be constructing roads, but people are still dying in accidents,” Hayab said.

“These are the realities the bishops were talking about. They were not confrontational and they were not seeking anything for themselves.”

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By Ogungbayi Adeyemi S. (Beedee)

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