Nigerian Bishop Ranks Migration a Bigger Issue Than Abortion, Climate

The most important issue facing the Catholic Church in Nigeria these days is neither climate change nor abortion, according to the auxiliary bishop of the Enugu Diocese in Southeast Nigeria. It’s migration.

“I consider migration a more sensitive topic to our church and society,” Bishop Ernest Obodo told EarthBeat. “Nigerian youths are being compelled by the harsh economic realities in Nigeria to leave the shores of their country to migrate to other nations.”

He cited the high number of young Nigerians who die while trying to flee the country as well as the staggering percentage of women and girls who end up victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation.

The ranking of such issues was raised last year as American Catholic bishops debated the relative importance and urgency of climate change and abortion.

At their November meeting, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops adopted a letter stating that abortion is their “preeminent priority.” Climate change, on the other hand, was not yet considered an urgent threat, then-conference president Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston said at a press conference.

As Obodo noted, Nigeria has a growing migration crisis. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than 10,000 Nigerians who were stuck in Libya, Mali and Niger after failed attempts to get to Europe have been flown home since 2017. A 2017 IOM report said of the more than 181,000 migrants who traveled by sea from Libya to Italy in 2016, more than 37,000 were Nigerians, with women and unaccompanied children accounting for 11,009 and 3,040 travelers respectively. The report says 80% of those women and girls are likely to become victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation.

Obodo blames the migration situation on the failure of his country’s leaders to provide jobs and such other opportunities as security and welfare. Without such assistance, he said, young people make the decision to seek a better life in Europe and other parts of the developed world.

In 2018, Nigeria displaced India as the country with the largest number of people living in extreme poverty, with an estimated 87 million Nigerians living on less than $1.90 per day compared to India’s 73 million.

“The central reason for migration is bad governance in Nigeria,” Obodo said.

He added: “With her abundant mineral resources and population, Nigeria should be a major player in the world economy. But since independence [granted by Britain in 1960], incompetent leaders often emerged in Nigeria through bad electoral processes, orchestrated by the activities of some mafia groups in the country, in conjunction with some multinational companies, who aid such bad leaders to power, with their selfish motives of manipulating them when they assume office.”

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As a member of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, Obodo participated in the Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa in Burkina Faso in May 2019 with the theme, “The New Evangelization and Comprehensive Human Development in the Church, Family of God in West Africa.” More than 150 bishops, archbishops and cardinals from West Africa took part, with migration the major topic. Obodo is among 78 Catholic bishops in Nigeria.

“At the conference, members were encouraged to harp on the issue of migration and put up programs which will discourage youths from traveling abroad for greener pastures,” he said. “Many of our children risk their lives migrating to Europe or America, often through illegal means.”

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While he agreed that abortion and climate change are issues affecting the church in many ways, he said migration tops the list.

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He added: “The issue of abortion is generally anti-African culture because Africans generally value life.”

Abortion is illegal in Nigeria and can only be performed to save a woman’s life. But abortions are still common in the country — mostly performed by unskilled medical attendants or personnel. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a sexual health research organization, of the more than 2 million unintended pregnancies in 2012 in Nigeria, 56% ended in an induced abortion.

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{snip} Obodo’s views on migration stand firm. He said that the popular refrain still holds true: “Whether east or west, home is the best.”

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