By Akukwe, Francis Nnalue
It has been the practice of the Catholic Youth Organization of
Nigeria (CYON) to publish its annual conference papers in its Justice
Series. The last publication in the series, Youth and Evangelization
covered the years 1990 and 1991. The present volume is a collection of
the organization's papers from 1992 to 1995 inclusive. It covers one of
the most trying periods for youths in the history of Nigeria. It was a
period when hopes were raised to the skies only to be dashed on hard
rocks. It was a period of public deception, uncertainty, and fratricidal
betrayal, a period of economic failure, callosal fraud and corruption (in
the public service, banks and other business circles), a period of massive
unemployment with its accompanying high crime rate and insecurity to
lives and properties, a period when public services and public utilities
nearly grinded to a halt (be it education through strikes and examination
malpractices, or health through inadequate supplies of drugs and equipment,
or water, or electricity supply, postal services, road maintenance
despite tolls and fees collected for these), a period of military obstinacy
and despotism, the apogee of military incompetence and insincerity in
political administration, a period of excessive human rights abuse and
intolerance of opposing views by those wielding political power through
arbitrary arrests, detention and imprisonment, proscription of citizen
organizations and mass media houses that espouse to independence and
freedom of expression. It was a period of high mental and physical
tension and stress.