Onaiyekan: ‘I’m 82, Not Afraid of Anybody’ as He Defends Criticism of Tinubu

Cardinal John Onaiyekan, the Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, has defended his decision to publicly discuss a meeting between Catholic bishops and President Bola Tinubu, insisting that he spoke out to tell the truth and not to please the government.

The 82-year-old cleric said he was not intimidated by criticism from the Presidency and remained confident in his right to speak on issues affecting Nigerians.

Onaiyekan explained that his comments reflected the collective position of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, rather than his personal opinion. According to him, the bishops had jointly drafted a statement containing the concerns he raised during a television interview.

The bishops met with President Tinubu at the State House in Abuja on July 28, where they discussed economic hardship, insecurity, democracy, the 2027 elections, religious freedom and the return of mission schools.

Speaking about the freedom to criticise government, Onaiyekan said Nigerians should not take the country’s relative openness for granted, noting that religious leaders in some African countries cannot speak as freely.

The Presidency had earlier criticised the public disclosure of details from the meeting, with the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, describing it as inappropriate because the engagement was considered private.

Onaiyekan, however, maintained that the bishops were simply expressing their concerns about the condition of the country and the suffering of Nigerians.

He added that other religious leaders had also expressed concerns about the state of the nation.

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