Catholic Bishops have registered their discontent with the failing and worsening economic situations which have continued to make living difficult and hard for Nigerians.

The clerics under the aegis of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), in a communique signed by its President, Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, at the end of its second plenary meeting in Abuja, lamented that Nigerians have been subjected to a life of poverty, hunger, hardship and suffering.

“The condition has been aggravated by the removal of fuel subsidy which has led to high cost of food items, transportation and meeting up with other essential needs. As if these are not enough, the hike in school fees has made it difficult for the children of the poor to continue their education.

“Based on past experience, we consider the resort to palliative measures as a treatment of the symptom rather than the cure for the disease. We, therefore, urge the government to address the fundamental defective structures that deepened inequality and poverty.”

They called on governments to provide an enabling environment for the creation of more jobs for the teeming unemployed youths, in addition to measures that would curb the persistence of theft of oil and other minerals.

They also enjoined the government to radically review programmes aimed at alleviating the suffering of the youths, while the youths are not to resort to violence and crime as a substitute for hard work.

The acting Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi, has announced that Nigerian importers would soon be able to clear their goods from the ports in Cotonou, Benin Republic.

Adeniyi disclosed this in Abuja at the end of a two-day working visit of the director-general and senior officials of the customs service of Benin Republic, on Tuesday.

Customs personnel from both countries entered into various agreements during the two-day meeting in order to boost trade relations between Nigeria and Benin Republic, as well as curb smuggling.

While responding to a question at the event, Adewale said: “We are building confidence in the system offered by the Republic of Benin, our importers are using their ports and vice versa. If there are people in Benin Republic who want to use our ports, we try to build trust in our systems.

“And by virtue of this agreement, what it means is that Nigerian importers willing to use the ports in Cotonou can have their goods cleared in those ports because there would be an opportunity for them to pay duties on goods that are liable for payment of duties.

“We can account for the duties on those goods in the ports of arrival. So they will now be free to enter Nigeria.”

Speaking on concerns about vehicle smuggling, the Comptroller-General said: “It goes beyond vehicles. Any goods arriving in Cotonou ports, duty can be accessed and payment can be made and from there, it comes into the Nigerian territory.

“It is just like what happens when goods come in through Lagos or Port Harcourt; it is pretty much the same. But we have not got there. We have agreed in principle that we can operationalise this.

“So the steps that we are going to take to get us to that particular destination is what we are going to be working on. It was mentioned in the communique that we are going to establish timelines when we hope to achieve that particular milestone.”

Adewale further explained that the partnership between both nations would enhance customs administration, trade facilitation and regional cooperation.

“The occasion we celebrate today marks a significant milestone in our journey to strengthen collaboration, eliminate barriers, and promote legitimate trade within the West African region,” he added.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said he tried to get Nigeria’s oil refineries working but was not successful and suggests President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s plan to do the same will not work.

“Someone told me Tinubu said refineries would work by December. I told the person the refineries would not work. This is based on the information I received from Shell when I was president”, Obasanjo revealed this during an exclusive interview with TheCable.