Issues raised by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN).
Sunday Jackson
Sunday Jackson is a farmer from Adamawa State. He was working on his farm one day when he was allegedly attacked by some knife wielding people. He managed to overpower one of them and killed him. He was arrested and charged with murder.
In 2021 the high court found him guilty and sentenced him to death by hanging. He appealed the judgement.
His appeal went through the Appeal and Supreme Courts and on Friday, March 7th, 2025 the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence.
Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria
The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria was established in 1977. It is made up of all Catholic bishops in Nigeria. They usually meet twice a year and then they publish the results of their discussion in a communique.
Some of the issues that they discuss require the intervention of government and since the late 1980s I have watched them go to Dodan Barracks and later the Aso Rock Villa to present the results of their discussions to the President/Head of State.
Death Sentence
The CBCN have appealed to President Bola Tinubu and Governor Ahmadu Finitiri to intervene and ensure that Sunday Jackson is not executed. They expressed surprise that he was sentenced to death, especially since the Adamawa State law has provisions for self defence.
Closure of schools during Ramadan
They also expressed concern about the closure of schools in Northern Nigeria during the Ramadan period. They stressed the importance of education and also talked about what they have done to promote education in Nigeria.
Return of missionary schools
The CBCN called for the return of all missionary schools that were seized by the Federal Government in the 1970s.
(President Tinubu said that the schools are now owned and under the jurisdiction of state governments, so he can’t do anything about it. He reminded the CBCN that he returned missionary schools in Lagos when he was governor).
Religious pilgrimages
The CBCN said that government should not be involved in religious pilgrimages. They said that it is a waste of public money. They noted that several officials of the pilgrims boards have been removed for stealing money that was meant for pilgrimages.
Security
The CBCN noted that there was an improvement in the security situation and they sympathised with security agents that have been killed and injured while trying to bring peace. However they noted that more still needs to be done and that the problems are not over.
Economy
They also noted that there is an improvement in the economy. They welcomed the tax reform bill, but they also noted the suffering of people after the removal of petroleum subsidy.
Congratulations
They congratulated the President on his election victory and said that they weren’t able to see him after their meetings in 2024, so this was the first time that they were seeing him after the elections.
