*Why President Tinubu Must Listen to the Bishops — They’re trusted whistleblowers rather than political adversaries
The Peter Obi Media Office has decided to add a voice to the needless feud over harmless and patriotic advice from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, CBCN. The friction highlights a classic governance hazard prevalent in the country, which is the insulation of executive power from ground-level reality. When presidential aides dismiss pastoral feedback on cost-of-living struggles and security concerns as merely “one perspective” or a breach of protocol, they miss the strategic value of moral, non-partisan feedback.
Dismissing the clerics’ assessment as partisan or alarmist is a tactical error. Listening to the episcopacy is not a political concession; it is vital to sound governance for several key reasons:
Unlike political appointees and state governors who often sanitise reports to protect their offices, bishops preside over vast, decentralised networks that reach deep into Nigeria’s rural and urban peripheries. From remote parishes to community healthcare centres, clerics absorb the daily economic pain, food insecurity, and quiet desperation of citizens long before these issues register in official economic indicators.
Power naturally creates an echo chamber. Advisers frequently tell leaders what they want to hear, emphasising macroeconomic metrics or reform milestones while glossing over human costs. Credible figures like Cardinal John Onaiyekan and Archbishop Matthew Ndagoso provide an unvarnished mirror, serving as an institutional check against presidential isolation.
Religious leaders act as critical shock absorbers in times of deep social anxiety. When bishops voice public frustration, they provide a constructive, peaceful channel for popular discontent. Rebuffing their warnings risks alienating a vital institutional bridge between an overstretched state and an increasingly exhausted populace.
The pastoral warnings presented by the CBCN are not designed to undermine the administration but to anchor policy in the lived experiences of everyday Nigerians. For President Tinubu, treating the clergy as trusted whistleblowers instead of political adversaries is essential to bridging the gap between macroeconomic projections and the realities on the street.
*E-sign
Idris Zekeri Jnr
POMR Spokesman.
