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Catholic Bishops’ Conference Election Pattern: A Lesson for Nigerian Politics
By Dr jalarth Uche Opara
Just hours ago, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, at its plenary session, elected new executives who will pilot the affairs of the Conference for the next four years a single, non-renewable term.
No noise.
No campaigns.
No vote-buying.
No political horse-trading.
Rather, the election was conducted under prayerful discernment, trusting in the guiding power of the Holy Spirit.
When one carefully examines past elections and how presidents of the Conference emerged over the years, a quiet but powerful pattern becomes evident: a deliberate spread that preaches inclusivity. Leadership has rotated across zones and provinces not by written law, not by rigid zoning formulas, but through wisdom, maturity, and discernment.
The result is profound.
Every zone feels seen.
Every region feels included.
Every part of the country has, at one time or another, had a bite of the cake—however small.
Votes are not cast out of:
sentiment,ethnic prejudice,
religious bias, or
regional entitlement,
but on competence, experience, credibility, and effectiveness.
This is not accidental. It is the fruit of a system where leadership is understood as service, not conquest; where power is a burden to carry, not a prize to grab.
The Inevitable Question
Can Nigeria’s political class imbibe this culture?
Can our politics rise above:
transactional loyalty,
monetized conscience,
weaponized ethnicity,
and winner-takes-all mentality?
Perhaps it could be possible. But for now, one is tempted to answer with bitter irony: Maybe when stones begin to grow like trees, and hens start urinating.
Until then, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference stands as a quiet rebuke and a living reminder that another way of leadership is possible, even in Nigeria.
Congratulations to the new executives. The best we can do is to pray for them
1. Most Rev. Matthew Man’oso Ndagoso, the Archbishop of Kaduna, as the President
2. Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins, the Archbishop of Lagos, as the Vice President
3. Most Rev. Peter Odetoyinbo, the Bishop of Abeokuta, as the Secretary
4. Most Rev. Peter Chukwu, the Bishop of Abakaliki, as the Assistant Secretary
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