A year before general elections in Africa’s most populous nation, Archbishop Augustine Akubeze of Benin City, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, said that “the number of Nigerians who vote is very low” and that “those who do not vote, they have already voted by allowing a few to determine the future of the majority.”

“Vote for those who can ensure the security of life and property,” he added. “Vote for those who have shown that they have the capacity to unite us as a people … We have failed God as individuals who allow corruption to deprive us of living the good life God has given to us. We have failed God by allowing insecurity and criminality to thrive.”