Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, has rejected criticism from the Presidency over his public account of a meeting between Catholic bishops and President Bola Tinubu.
Onaiyekan said neither his age nor the reaction of government officials would stop him from speaking frankly about the situation in Nigeria.
The 82-year-old cleric stated this in a video shared by Symfoni TV on Wednesday, days after the Presidency criticised his decision to publicly discuss aspects of the bishops’ meeting with Tinubu.
The controversy followed a July 28 meeting between a delegation of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) and President Tinubu at the State House, Abuja.
The delegation, led by CBCN President, Archbishop Matthew Man-Oso Ndagoso of Kaduna, included Onaiyekan, Cardinal Peter Okpaleke, Bishop Matthew Kukah of Sokoto and other senior Catholic clerics.
During the meeting, the bishops raised concerns about economic hardship, insecurity, democracy, preparations for the 2027 elections, religious freedom and the return of mission schools.
Three days later, Onaiyekan appeared on Arise News, where he publicly recounted aspects of the engagement and spoke about the bishops’ concerns over the state of the nation.
His comments prompted a response from the Presidency.
President Tinubu’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, criticised the disclosure of details from the meeting, describing it as inappropriate because the engagement was a private interaction.
Responding to the criticism, Onaiyekan said he appeared on television to present what he believed was the truth about the meeting rather than to seek the approval of the government or anyone else.
“I didn’t go to Arise to please the government, or to just please people, but to tell the truth. That’s all I stand for,” he said.
The cleric dismissed suggestions that the criticism could embarrass or intimidate him, saying he had reached an age where he was not afraid of the consequences of speaking out.
“I cannot be embarrassed. I’m 82 years old; nobody can embarrass me. And I’m not afraid of anybody,” Onaiyekan declared.
“Nobody, at this stage now, are they going to arrest me, carry me to where?”
Onaiyekan also urged Nigerians not to take the country’s remaining space for public criticism for granted, noting that the situation was more restrictive in some other African countries.
“And we are still lucky in this Nigeria that we can still talk. We shouldn’t take that for granted. There are many countries in Africa where no bishop dares to talk like we do here,” he said.
The former Abuja Archbishop further clarified that his televised comments were not a personal position or an individual disagreement with the government.
He said the concerns he raised reflected the collective position of the Catholic bishops who participated in the meeting with the President.
“No, mind you, I didn’t talk on my own now. I spoke on behalf of my fellow bishops,” he said.
Onaiyekan explained that the bishops had prepared a joint statement containing the issues he discussed during the television interview.
“We drafted a statement which contained all that I said in the interview. So, all the bishops of Nigeria spoke that way. It was their voice I was echoing,” he stated.
The cleric said the bishops remained entitled to express their concerns within their respective dioceses, adding that other religious leaders had also spoken about challenges facing the country.
“I cannot speak on behalf of other religious leaders. Everybody has their own job to do, but many of the other religious leaders have supported us,” he said.
On the broader situation in Nigeria, Onaiyekan said the hardship confronting citizens was too widespread to be reduced to a disagreement between religious leaders and government officials.
“When it comes to what is happening to Nigeria, the poverty, the suffering, we are all in the same boat now, abi?” he asked.
