About 180 Catholic Bishops drawn from various Archdioceses and Dioceses across the country, in the second plenary meeting of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) from August 22 to 30, 2024, will converge in Auchi, Edo State to discuss the state of the nation and other issues.

The Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, Rev. Fr. Peter Egielewa, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.

The 2024 Second Plenary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, is being hosted by the Catholic Diocese of Auchi, with Most Rev. (Dr) Gabriel Dunia as the Local Ordinary.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria is the highest decision-making body of the Catholic Church in Nigeria and holds its plenary meeting twice in a year where matters of the Catholic faith and society are discussed and resolutions in the form of a communique are communicated to the Catholic faithful of Nigeria, leaders of the nation and Nigerians in general.

The meeting is coming on the heels of the recent hunger protest by the #EndBadGovernance group and the Take It Back Movement.

This is the first time the Bishops are meeting since the protests took place from August 1 to August 10, 2024, even as the protesters had vowed to continue on October 1.

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According to Daily Sun, the bishops will discuss political, economic and religious issues affecting the nation.

The Chairman, Local Organizing Committee, Rev. Fr. Peter Egielewa, in a statement made available to Daily Sun, said: “The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Auchi, Edo State, Most Rev. Dr Gabriel G. Dunia, together with the entire faithful of the Diocese are set to host the second plenary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) for the year 2024 from 22nd to 30th August 2024.

“The meeting hopes to bring together, the over 80 Catholic Bishops to Auchi Diocese, also called Afenmai land, which is made up of the six local Government Areas of Edo North Senatorial District of Edo State.”

Egielewa further said the meeting is the first time the Catholic Diocese of Auchi will be hosting the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria in its 21-year history after its Erection as a Diocese on 22nd February 2003 with Bishop Dunia as its first and current Bishop.

Egielewa quoted Bishop Dunia to have said that “all catholic faithful of the Catholic Diocese of Auchi, at home and in the Diaspora, as well as friends and well-wishers of the Diocese are invited to take part in this epoch-making event in welcoming the fathers of the Catholic Church in Nigeria, particularly to the opening Mass at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral Auchi on Sunday 25th August 2024, and the general opening ceremonies at Uyi Grands Hall, Auchi.”

The Anglican Synod organised by Lafia Diocese in Nasarawa State, has pointed out some factors that have been weakening the naira, causing persistent high inflation in the country.

This was revealed during its 3-day of the 9th synod of the Anglican Church of Nigeria, organised by the Diocese of Lafia, held at St. James Cathedral in Lafia, the capital of Nasarawa State.

A case was made of the major factors potentially threatening Nigerians’ survival, since the beginning of the administration of incumbent President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The removal of fuel subsidies by the Tinubu-led federal government and the continued dollarization of the country’s economy by certain government’s policies, CBN and some Nigerians.

“These factors are not only contributing to the weakening of Nigeria’s currency, heightening inflation and the japa syndrome but are wholly responsible for the present economic crisis, characterized by hunger, suffering and its attendant consequences on Nigerians across the board” the Synod stated.

In a communique issued to newsmen at the end of the Synod and signed by Godwin Adeyi Robinson, the Anglican Bishop of Lafia Diocese, said being the most populous democratic country in the African continent, Nigeria is still wandering around issues, that potentially posed a threat to Nigeria economy.

The Synod, therefore commended President Tinubu for the steps being taken in addressing the challenges eluding Nigeria and its citizens.

The communique reads in part: “The Synod commends the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Ahmed Bola Tinubu GCFR, for the efforts being made to tackle the many problems in Nigeria, including economic stability, security and social wellbeing of Nigeria, as the most populous democratic country in Africa.

“The Synod observes that the removal of fuel subsidy leads to the present hardship in Nigeria, cascading into hyperinflation of goods and services, thereby impacting negatively across the board in Nigeria.

“The Synod appeals to Nigerians to stop the Dollarization of Nigeria economy which has potentially weakened the Naira and further heightened inflation and encourage the migration of young Nigerians out of the country, that is JAPA syndrome, with the devastating impact on brain drain of medical and academic personnel out of the country,” its added.

The 2024 Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia has become a religious observance and ritual of death fatalities with records above 1,300, as a result of extreme high temperatures at the holy sites.

Death fatalities are common in yearly Hajj pilgrimages in Madinah, Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi authorities announced on Sunday that the death fatalities of above 1,300 occured as the pilgrimage faithful faced extreme high temperatures.

The 15 Nigerian pilgrims who died during the spiritual exercise of pelting/stoning the Devil-one of the rites at Jamurat, including a female pilgrim who committed suicide, were pilgrims from Kwara, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, and Kebbi states.

About 17 other pilgrims from Nigeria suffered severe heatstroke at the holy sites as a result of the high temperature which triggered several casualties while four pilgrims with pregnancies were uncovered, with two suffering miscarriages.

Recall that on 25 Jun 2023 abou six Nigerian pilgrims participating in the 2023 Hajj in Saudi Arabia were confirmed dead by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria.

On 30 July, 2019 The Chairman Medical Committee of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) Dr Ibrahim Kana, confirmed the death of about five Nigerians during the year’s Hajj in Madinah Mecca.

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According to AP Reports, Saudi Health Minister Fahd bin Abdurrahman Al-Jalajel said that 83% of the 1,301 fatalities were unauthorized pilgrims who walked long distances in soaring temperatures to perform the Hajj rituals in and around the holy city of Mecca.

Speaking with the state-owned Al Ekhbariya TV, the minister said 95 pilgrims were being treated in hospitals, some of whom were airlifted for treatment in the capital, Riyadh. He said the identification process was delayed because there were no identification documents with many of the dead pilgrims.

He said the dead were buried in Mecca, without giving a breakdown.

The fatalities included more than 660 Egyptians. All but 31 of them were unauthorized pilgrims, according to two officials in Cairo. Egypt has revoked the licenses of 16 travel agencies that helped unauthorized pilgrims travel to Saudi Arabia, authorities said.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief journalists, said most of the dead were reported at the Emergency Complex in Mecca’s Al-Muaisem neighborhood. Egypt sent more than 50,000 authorized pilgrims to Saudi Arabia this year.

Saudi authorities cracked down on unauthorized pilgrims, expelling tens of thousands of people. But many, mostly Egyptians, managed to reach holy sites in and around Mecca, some on foot. Unlike authorized pilgrims, they had no hotels to return to to escape the scorching heat.

In a statement Saturday, Egypt’s government said the 16 travel agencies failed to provide adequate services for pilgrims. It said these agencies illegally facilitated the travel of pilgrims to Saudi Arabia using visas that don’t allow holders to travel to Mecca.

The government also said officials from the companies have been referred to the public prosecutor for investigation.According to the state-owned Al-Ahram daily, some travel agencies and Hajj trip operators sold Saudi tourist visas to Egyptian Hajj hopefuls, violating Saudi regulations which require exclusive visas for pilgrims. Those agencies left pilgrims in limbo in Mecca and the holy sites in scorching heat, the newspaper said.

The fatalities also included 165 pilgrims from Indonesia, 98 from India and dozens more from Jordan, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Malaysia, according to an Associated Press tally. Two U.S. citizens were also reported dead.

The AP could not independently confirm the causes of death, but some countries like Jordan and Tunisia blamed the soaring heat. AP journalists saw pilgrims fainting from the scorching heat, especially on the second and third days of the Hajj. Some vomited and collapsed.

Historically, deaths are not uncommon at the Hajj, which has seen at times over 2 million people travel to Saudi Arabia for a five-day pilgrimage. The pilgrimage’s history has also seen deadly stampedes and epidemics.

But this year’s tally was unusually high, suggesting exceptional circumstances.

In 2015 a stampede in Mina killed over 2,400 pilgrims, the deadliest incident ever to strike the pilgrimage, according to an AP count. Saudi Arabia has never acknowledged the full toll of the stampede. A separate crane collapse at Mecca’s Grand Mosque earlier the same year killed 111.

The second-deadliest incident at the Hajj was a 1990 stampede that killed 1,426 people.During this year’s Hajj period, daily high temperatures ranged between 46 degrees Celsius (117 degrees Fahrenheit) and 49 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit) in Mecca and sacred sites in and around the city, according to the Saudi National Center for Meteorology. Some people fainted while trying to perform the symbolic stoning of the devil.

The Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, is one of the world’s largest religious gatherings. More than 1.83 million Muslims performed the Hajj in 2024, including more than 1.6 million from 22 countries, and around 222,000 Saudi citizens and residents, according to the Saudi Hajj authorities.

Saudi Arabia has spent billions of dollars on crowd control and safety measures for those attending the annual five-day pilgrimage, but the sheer number of participants makes it difficult to ensure their safety.

Climate change could make the risk even greater. A 2019 study by experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that even if the world succeeds in mitigating the worst effects of climate change, the Hajj would be held in temperatures exceeding an “extreme danger threshold” from 2047 to 2052, and from 2079 to 2086.Islam follows a lunar calendar, so the Hajj comes around 11 days earlier each year. By 2029, the Hajj will occur in April, and for several years after that it will fall in the winter, when temperatures are milder.