President Bola Tinubu says Nigeria’s restructured security architecture will defeat terrorism, banditry and kidnapping, and that the economy has moved past the danger of collapse.
Tinubu spoke Tuesday at the State House while receiving the leadership of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, led by its president, Most Rev. Matthew Ndagoso, Archbishop of Kaduna, who came with 19 other CBCN leaders.
The president said the military is being repositioned through better intelligence gathering, improved logistics and a renewed focus on the welfare of frontline personnel. He announced he has approved an expansion of the armed forces, with new equipment and barracks underway.
“We will defeat terrorism. It should be part of your sermons. I won’t deviate from our national anthem,” Tinubu said, urging the bishops and other religious leaders to condemn attacks publicly and rally their members behind the government’s fight against insurgency.
On the economy, Tinubu said the fears of bankruptcy that trailed the start of his administration have eased.
“The country has been placed on a sound footing. The economy has recovered. The alarm for bankruptcy and dark tunnel of uncertainty that we had when I came in has been changed,” he said, adding that he inherited “the assets and liabilities” of his predecessor and has been working through them since.
He pointed to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, as one of the interventions his government will sustain to improve livelihoods, and noted that universities have gone a full academic session without an ASUU strike.
“Is that not an answer to our prayers? For me, that’s answered prayer,” he said.
Tinubu called on citizens to take advantage of government and private-sector opportunities in education, entrepreneurship and skills acquisition, and said unity and stability must remain non-negotiable for all stakeholders.
Ndagoso, in his remarks, thanked Tinubu for hosting the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, during celebrations marking 50 years of Nigeria-Vatican relations.
He raised concerns over insecurity, limited spaces in tertiary institutions, the sustainability of Nigeria’s democratic gains, and poverty. He also asked the president to consider reinstating mission schools and to ensure fair access to worship spaces for all faiths nationwide.
The Kaduna archbishop further called for free and fair elections in 2027.
“As a man who risked so much in the struggle for the return of democratic rule in the dark days of the military dictatorship, your greatest legacy would be the strengthening of our democratic institutions,” Ndagoso said.
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