YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon – As protests against the soaring cost of living enter day five in Africa’s most populous nation, Nigeria, Church leaders are warning that the unrest could only further “aggravate the already frail state of the nation.”

In an August 2 statement, Members of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) that includes the Catholic Bishops’ Conference said that “civil unrest is not the solution” and called on the protesters to call off the strike.

“NIREC hereby calls on fellow citizens of Nigeria to please call off this protest and give the Government a chance to redeem itself,” the members of the Council that is co-chaired by the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar and the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Archbishop Daniel Okoh , said in the August 2 statement.

Thousands of Nigerians took to the streets August 1 to protest against the high cost of living. The protestors are criticizing food shortages, corruption, and demanding for the reinstatement of gas and electricity subsidies.

According to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria’s inflation rate accelerated to 34.19 percent in June 2024, the highest since March 1996. This has been worsened by the removal of fuel subsidies.

Food inflation, which accounts for the bulk of Nigeria’s inflation basket, surged to a record high of 40.87 percent in June, compared to May’s 40.66 percent, boosted by price increases in bread, cereal, potatoes, and fish.

Additional upward pressure came from prices of housing and utilities (30.3 percent vs 29.6 percent) and beverages & tobacco (24.1 percent vs 23.3 percent).

According to the World Food Program, 4.4 million people are food insecure in northeast Nigeria and 37 percent of people nationwide live below the poverty line.

Tagged #EndbadGovernanceinNigeria, the protests turned violent, with Human Rights Watch reporting that 13 people were killed, although the Nigerian military reported a much smaller number. Reports say nearly 700 people have been arrested.

NIREC has called on the government of Bola Ahmed Tinubu to expedite action in resolving these problems. They have also expressed worry that if the protests should last the ten days for which it was planned, the consequences could be dire.

“In just one day lives and enormous amounts of property have been destroyed. Imagine if this continues for a prolonged period of time, only God knows the extent of damage that would be incurred,” they said.

“NIREC urges the government to expedite action towards meeting the yearning and needs of the citizens. We need a peaceful and tranquil nation we can be proud to call our own.”

Catholic bishops urge peace in Nigeria

The call for government action has been echoed by the Catholic Bishops in the Onitsha Ecclesiastical Province.

In a statement following their July 30 meeting, the bishops called on the government to announce “concrete steps” to address the needs of Nigerians and therefore avoid the protests from continuing.

“We urge the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to address the nation and announce concrete steps to be taken immediately to assuage the concerns of the majority of the citizens, beyond mere palliatives,” the bishops said.

“Palliatives are irritating distractions and avenues of corruption. We equally call on the organizers of the planned protest to carefully weigh the real possibility of its degenerating into chaos and take full responsibility,” they added.

Meanwhile, Archbishop Alfred Adewale Martins of Lagos has urged the government to implement people-centered policies to do away with what he called multi-dimensional poverty in Nigeria.

He blamed the government for making policy decisions that ended up hurting people, and thereby triggering the mass protests.

“There is no doubt that there is a lot of hunger in the land, people are falling sick and dying out of poverty and unable to buy medicines and pay hospital bills. They have difficulty paying the school fees of their children and the cost of food and electricity is constantly on the rise,” the archbishop said in a statement.

“The government must commit to abandoning projects and travel that do not contribute in any direct way to the welfare of people, especially in the light of the sacrifices that people are being asked to make for the future of the nation. People want to see their leaders taking the lead in making sacrifices and I believe that some of such gestures will assuage the anger in the land.”

‘I have heard you’

In a televised address, Tinubu said he had heard the protesters and called for an end to the protests.

“My dear Nigerians, especially our youth, I have heard you loud and clear,” the president said.

He added that he understands their “pain and frustration.”

But the president defended his policies that led to the hardship in the first place, including removal of fuel subsidies. He gave no indication that he was going to reverse those policies.