A statement of a conference of Nigerian Bishops has declared Nigeria’s debt burden a form of “enslavement.” The denunciation was in the communiqué issued at the end of the Second Plenary Meeting of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) in Edo State (August 22-30). The wide ranging communiqué deals with the state of the nation, which has been in a social crisis because of the austerity policies imposed by the government.
In commenting on the anti-austerity demonstrations that have been taking place, the communiqué takes note of the fact that criminal elements have been responsible for instigating violence, but also criticizes the security forces for taking inordinate measures, causing injury and even deaths among the demonstrators. Then, zeroing in on the issue of debt, the communiqué declares:
”Our nation’s huge debt burden is a great affront to our present and future generations. We observe that servicing huge debts to international monetary agencies and consequently sourcing funds internally to balance budget deficits gave rise to the present government’s economic reforms, consisting mainly in the withdrawal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the Naira. We are aware that these reforms have triggered a galloping inflation that has reduced most Nigerians to a life of cruel suffering and wretchedness. The majority of Nigerians is now stuck in living conditions that detract from human dignity. Thus, the debt burden has turned out to be a new form of enslavement of present and future generations.... We therefore urge the present administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reconsider its economic reform policies with a view to lifting the burden of hardship from the citizens and engender people-oriented and progressive development.”
