The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has stated that the reform agenda of the current administration has increased the hardship being faced by citizens.
The President of the CBCN, Lucius Ugorji, stated this during his welcome speech at the commencement of the 2024 First Plenary Assembly of the CBCN, which took place at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria Resource Centre in Durumi, Abuja.
The bishop added that inflation had made it challenging for the average Nigerian to afford essential commodities, like food items and medication.
He said: “The reform agenda of the present government has added to the plight of Nigerians. With the withdrawal of fuel subsidies and the unification of the foreign exchange market, there has been a sharp increase in the pump price of petroleum products and a steep decline in the value of the naira. Indeed, there is a free fall of the national currency.
“As a result of the government’s reform agenda, millions of Nigerians have been reduced to a life of grinding poverty, wanton suffering, and untold hardship as never before in our national history.
“In a bid to survive, an increasing number of the poor have resorted to begging. With more than 80 million Nigerians living under the poverty line of less than two dollars a day, our country, according to the recent disclosure of the World Bank, is the world’s second-largest poor population after India.
“While many impoverished Nigerians continue to suffer and die as a result of the hardship caused by the government’s economic reforms, the president has continued to urge the populace to make even more and more sacrifices with the assurance that brighter days lay ahead.”
