Tuesday, December 3, 2013

GOD TOLD ME...

(In Memoriam: Kofi Awoonor, 1935-2013)

On 21 September, the Ghanaian poet, writer, scholar and diplomat, Kofi Awoonor, was murdered along with many others in a terrorist attack launched by religious fanatics of the Somalia-based Al Shabaab Islamic fundamentalist sect purportedly acting on God’s behalf. For over a month now, I have intended some form of reflection in this column. The more I have thought about the catastrophe, the more it has appeared to me that perhaps the single most important danger to world peace, to peaceful co-existence, is the idea of chosenness at the heart of every revealed religion.
Chosenness invites, indeed demands, the unquestioning belief in, reverence, even deification of, the individual—always a man—to whom God elected, for no justifiable reason, to reveal himself, and to give the eternal laws and moral code by which all of humanity is to live from birth to death, forever and ever. By a revealed religion’s unchangeable code, time and tide, in other words, history, stand still from the moment of creation. Somehow, God always speaks to these men privately, in conditions of utter secrecy: atop a mountain, in a far remove from everyone else in the desert, in their bedrooms or tents, alone under a tree, in dreams and visions.  Their sole authority rests then on our credulity, our readiness to accept the claim that God “spake” directly to them.
The iron code of a moral order founded on such dubious grounds ruled the world until the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment. The wars of forced conversion to a kind and fatherly almighty God—though such a God could have “created” everybody to worship him instinctively, as naturally as we breathe—produced the horrors of the crusades and jihads whose legacies bedevil the earth today. The march of civilisation led inevitably to the separation of state and religion, of public affairs from personal belief. The resultant doctrine of secularism, often seen as a Western concept, has its roots in the humane older code that governs the ecumenical practices of indigenous cultures but which was destroyed by the violent and imperialistic revealed religions; particularly, the Abrahamic faiths.
Although the 1999 constitution, as every of its predecessors, proclaims the secularity of Nigeria, our leaders trample on its spirit and letter by putting religion front, back and centre of every thought and action, by a Pharisee-like public display of piety (PDP). From state sponsorship of pilgrimages to incessant calls for prayers to save the nation, Nigeria in the eyes of its holy leaders is a theocracy in fact and a secular state in name only. Thus, despite many corrections, President Jonathan just cannot keep his righteousness to himself. Fresh from a state-sponsored pilgrimage to Jerusalem in which he gave damning evidence of his brazen violation of the constitution, he took to the pulpit to declare that "but for the prayers of the church,” Nigeria “would probably have gone into oblivion."
What Jonathan cannot understand is that in making such a superstitious claim, he appeals to the same authority as the religious fanatic. God, and not the citizens, according to Jonathan, is the guarantor of the continued stability of Nigeria; he holds the country together only as a favour to the prayerful followers of two foreign religions. God, according to Boko Haram’s Ibrahim Shekau, has decreed an Islamic kingdom in Nigeria, one that would not even require prayers for peace since it would be ruled directly by him through his personally anointed prophet—most likely Shekau himself. Consequently, God commanded Shekau, “to fight against people so long as they do not declare that there is no god but Allah.” And in the process, to “enjoy killing anyone that God commands me to kill the way I enjoy killing chickens and rams.” Jonathan cannot disavow Shekau’s claims without giving up the basis of his own claims, including the view that God, and not voting citizens, made him president.
My more recent reflections on the holy superstition called chosenness reminded me of Jean Jacque Rousseau’s Second Discourse on Inequality where he writes thus:  “The first man who, having enclosed a piece of ground, to whom it occurred to say this is mine, and found people sufficiently simple to believe him, was the true founder of civil society. How many crimes, wars, murders, how many miseries and horrors Mankind would have been spared by him who, pulling up the stakes or filling in the ditch, had cried out to his kind: Beware of listening to this impostor; You are lost if you forget that the fruits are everyone’s and the Earth no one’s.” To all who accept without question every claim of divine revelation or directive, I commend the derision of chosenness by the great mystic poet, Omar Khayyam, in the Rubáiyát: “And do you think that unto such as you, / A maggot-minded, starved, fanatic crew, / God gave the Secret, and denied it me? -- / Well, well, what matters it! believe that too.” Today’s chosen men of God are, of course, very well fed and often finely accoutred, but fanatics they remain!
“God told me . . .” How much better the world would be if we called impostors by their true name and sought God in the quiet recesses of our minds.

By Ogaga Ifowodo

omoliho@gmail.com

Sunday, November 10, 2013

TODAY’S CHURCH: WINNING SOULS OR MONEY?

The Church rose to its peak in the medieval period with its domination of world affairs and later waned in the face of rising secularism that grew out of the industrial revolution and free market enterprise. Another product of the industrial revolution which is monumental to the church is the Protestant Reformation championed by Martin Luther. There were a number of changes that the church underwent. For example, we had the emergence of the Puritans in the 16th and 17th century who wanted to purify and free the Church of England from government control.
This movement gave rise to pietism, the practice of deep devotion and reverence for God. What came out of this was the evangelical reawakening which was first ignited by the Moravian Movement and spread wide to the whole England through the work of the early Methodists like George Whitefield, John Wesley, Charles Wesley and a number of English laymen in the 18th century and beyond. The Moravian Movement and the Methodist Movement championed a re-enactment of Christian mission to the heathen world, a kind of what was obtainable in the primitive church during the era of the Lord’s Apostles. This missionary activity started purely based on the Biblical commission to ‘go and make disciples of all nations’ (Matthew 28: 19), but was later hijacked by imperialist rulers who claimed to be Christian kings helping to ‘champion the course the gospel.’ Again, the church became a victim of government by subjecting her mission to state control.
Hence, the church is accused of collaborating with the expansionist and oppressive policy of colonial administration all over the world. These antecedents continue to hunt the church till today and it accounts for the general apathy against her in Europe and most of the Asian countries. In the late 19th and early 20th century, a new brand of Christianity emerged from the Wesleyan Holiness movements in America first promoted by the Rev Charles H. Parham, a former Methodist minister. By 1906, William J. Seymour, a black American one-eyed preacher who was under the tutelage of C. H. Parham was caught up with an extra-ordinary manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit in a Methodist Mission House he was using on Asuza Street, Los Angeles, USA.
The place became a centre of spiritual activity and turned out to be a pilgrim cite with people pouring in from all over the world and receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the second blessing, a replica of the Pentecost experience of the early Disciples of Christ. Eventually, modern Pentecostalism took its name from this. This helped the church to recover its commission once again and led to renewed missionary activity. Again and again, the church would derail. Again and again, God calls His people back to His purpose. Right now Pentecostal and Charismatic form of Christianity seem to have reached their plateau, a position of complacency. A critical look at all Christian groups now, especially in Nigeria, shows that most of them are no longer concerned about making disciples for Christ. In my own judgment, every church is now either Pentecostal or charismatic. Churches are now into empire expansion, acquiring this and that here and there.
Yes, it is right for the church to have a sound financial base but that should not be the primary focus of the Church of God. Some church leaders continue to amass wealth for themselves only and neglect the highly priced sacrificial leadership. What we use to know as follow-up no longer holds. Most altar calls after message now are for promotion, prosperity, healing and deliverance and not for repentance and conversion. The church has become user-friendly. Many ministers of God especially in Nigeria have become prayer contractors, praying and prophesying good things for the highest bidder. Even when we are not actually praying, we tell them we are praying earnestly for their progress.
If Peter and John were modern preachers they would have prayed for one kind of spirit to fall on Simon the Sorcerer since he had good money to pay for the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 8: 14-24). The church is supposed to be the conscience of the nation but some of us have become collaborators in wrecking the nation like the High Priest Amaziah, ‘the palace chaplain’ during the reign of King Jeroboam, who was enjoying the booties of the land and turned a blind eye to the evils of his day. God sent Amos, an obscure figure, to minister in Bethel and Amaziah ordered him out, ‘Get out of here, you seer! Go on back to the land of Judah and do your preaching there! Don’t bother us here in Bethel with your prophecies, especially not here where the royal sanctuary is!’ (Amos 7:12-13 NLT).
Some churches that were known for humility and quiet contribution to nation building and development have become sycophants. In all our church programmes now, even revival services and crusades, what do we target? What vision do we ministers receive when praying for programmes? The amount of money that will be raised or the of souls that will be won to the Lord? Those who are our great financiers and donors, do we bother if they have repented of their sins or have problems that needed attention? Because we fail to win souls of people to God, we have no control and moral authority over them.
Because we aim at their money and not their soul they will continue to control us. If we win people to the Lord, we win all that they have and own, but if we win only their money we loose our integrity before them and before God. And when people loose their integrity before God, they are finished. O God! Bring us back into your purpose for us on earth. In Christ’s name. Amen.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of SaharaReporters

Thursday, October 3, 2013

PASTORS, JETS AND MODESTY

The Christian religion purportedly founded by Jesus the Christ aims to eternally encourage its adherents to be Christ-like; to live a life packed with humility, chastity and modesty. It calls its members to live a life of service that will impact positively on others while building a better society that celebrates the brotherhood of man; Christianity preaches love which Jesus allegedly demonstrated when He died on the cross to save His followers.
The Christian Jesus was a meek and gentle fellow who was famously portrayed as a regular traveler/wonderer that was not known to own any material property but depended and survived mainly on charity and other people’s goodwill.
Lately, it has become too glaring that we in Nigeria are into a brand of Christianity that appears to be at variance with what Jesus established-from all indications, the sore economic nature of Nigeria has thrown up a brand of Christianity that is solely capitalistic and a vicious capricious leech. This is clearly attributable to the upsurge in a radical form of this religion known as Pentecostalism. This is a brand of Christianity that believes that by engaging in amongst others a loud and persistent form of prayer, mountains will move and valleys flattened. To its credit, a once hopeless population that is daily feeling the strangulating grips of our bad economy appears to find solace and succor in prayers. Unfortunately, this is coming at an enormous price; pastors are enjoying here on earth while church members are advised to “wait on the Lord”.
I find it extremely distressing that pastors like Mr. E. O Adeboye, Mr. David Oyedepo and Mr. Sam Adeyemi and many more do not see anything wrong in acquiring private jets for private use while boasting of having millions of followers who are really very poor. I find it equally nauseating that intelligent Nigerians will come out to defend these men while admonishing people like me to “judge not so that thou will not be judged”. What nonsense! The great Fela captured this beautifully when he sang about Pastors having a swell time on earth while encouraging their wretched church members to pray for a blissful after life in some heaven. For all it stands for, the role of pastors of Pentecostal churches in Nigeria looks exactly like that of leaders of organized crime outfits; there is so much glamour and grandeur oozing from their quarters. One thing that is lacking in the lives of these pastors is exactly what early Christianity stood for-modesty and humility.
It smacks of stupidity of the worst order when otherwise intelligent Nigerians troop out to use the barbaric “touch not my anointed and do my prophet no harm…” line to stop people like me from exposing the treachery of modern day pastors. This is pure hypocrisy! Pastors that owe their sustenance to the mites of hapless church members are boasting of owning private jets, some even gloating about having four whereas the level of poverty ravaging the lives of church members continue to spiral. This is immoral, wicked and an attempt to perpetuate the evil of exploiting believers who are enjoined to give, and give and give because “the lord will replenish abundantly...” Smart pastors are using all forms of strategies to promote their ministries like a merchandise and are reaping the fruits-abundantly. A situation whereby a pastor spends up to $30m [thirty million USD]to acquire one private jet while
ministering to millions of followers that are daily being hacked to death by the vicissitudes of life is simply too wicked and a mockery of the teachings attributed to Jesus. Where do these men draw the moral strength to engage in this type of treachery and deceit?

Though we sometimes find solace in heaping all blames on the discrepant leadership we have in Nigeria, I strongly believe that Pastors of Pentecostal churches and other religious leaders stand shoulder to shoulder with our leaders in sharing the blame. Take a cursory look across Nigeria and tell me what you see; a deceptive scenario of churches opening at every nook and cranny while businesses fold at an alarming rate, young men and women roaming about armed with a copy of the Bible threatening Armageddon, Apocalypse, Rapture and all that nonsense. There is nothing as profitable as preying on a peoples’ fear and exploiting them thus-this is exactly what modern Christianity stands for and clearly stands out to be recognized as.
We all are witness to the spurious claims of a deluded American preacher sinfully known as Harold Camping who caused so much heartache and chaos with his mad predictions that the Christian God would destroy the world on the 21st May, 2011. It is utterances like this that hold frightened Christians spell-bound and prod them to give out hard earned money to pastors to splurge on private jets and sundry toys.
In developed nations which we try to copy in many ways, churches are seen as charity organizations. In that spirit of charity, churches in these countries engage in lots of charity works- especially in developing nations; people donate money, clothes, computers and other materials to be sent to places around the globe that are known to be suffering from the negative effects of poverty, deprivation and want. Surprisingly, members of these churches donate to charity not because of any divine injunction and a promise of a place in some heaven, but because it appeals to their human nature to do so. But what do we have in Nigeria? A situation whereby rogue pastors and similar preachers use the threat of hell fire and eternal damnation to cajole members into parting with their hard-earned cash, a classic case where people donate money and materials to churches not because they want to but for the simple reason that heaven so commanded.
This is wrong and pastors that extort money from Nigerians using this method should be out-rightly exposed and condemned.
Private jet-flying Pastors are no different from the modern day capitalist that fixes his eyes eternally on making more profits and stashing same away for his sole amusement. Today, the Chris Oyakhilomes, Adeboyes, Oyedepos, Adeyemis, Lazarus Muokas etc are all owners of numerous business outfits that churn out millions in profits. These men and their organizations have investments in expensive status-symbol private schools, TV stations, estates and other business interests; the vexing part of the arrangement is that the millions of poor and wretched members of their churches cannot afford to send their wards to the schools run by the churches! Is it against any Biblical injunction for any pastor to build and equip a hospital and donate same to his community? Think of the difference the amount of money spent in purchasing one private jet would make if deployed towards charity in a Nigerian state, think of the kind of hospital $30m could build, think of the difference it will make if a pastor runs his private university as a charity school where students study for free!
It is rather too unfortunate the amount of damage done to the psyche of Nigerians by the antics of modern day charlatan pastors; this is why you see demented fellows coming up to argue that “...it is not
easy working in the Lord’s vineyard...And whoever so works should reap accordingly”. The Lord’s vineyard? What the heck is that? Is it any wonder that apart from Pastor Tunde Bakare, every other notable Nigerian pastor finds it exceptionally comfortable keeping mute while our leaders plunder our resources with a reckless abandon? Have you ever bothered to find out from Pastor Enoch Adeboye why he appears to find it convenient engaging in some sort of weird romance with notorious politicians whose atrocities are well known? Pastor Adeboye’s Redeemed Camp is now some kind of Mecca where our kwashiokored leaders and politicians go for “pilgrimage” and gets the much needed Divine Nod before embarking on a rigging spree that ensures they thwart our collective wish as a people for a credible leader? Are you not troubled that Erasmus Akingbola, that disgraced former MD of Intercontinental Bank Plc is a senior Pastor in Adeboye’s Redeemed Christian Church of God? This is man who stole billions of Naira belonging to depositors just to engage in his deluded affluent-amusement. One could go on and on, but the fact remains same; our pastors are not getting it right.

It has been the argument that Pastors continue to rip people off because of the alarming poverty rate in Nigeria-I agree. But I will make haste to add more; our pastors are able to feed their greed because ours is a society littered with so many human beings that are still clutching tightly at the expired belief system that spreads the wicked lie that it is better to suffer on earth and enjoy in heaven. It is wise to make ridicule of any fellow that comes to you with that warped “what shall it profit a man to enjoy the world and lose his soul?” Our pastors are the ones who should be suffering that indignation because they are the ones having a ball here on earth while preaching the evil sermon of a better life in an imaginary heaven.

johnteddyus@yahoo.com
https://jonchikadibie.wordpress.com

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

IS IT ALL OVER FOR NWODO POLITICAL DYNASTY? A REJOINDER

When an elder or a media professional engages in moronic vociferation and invective blab against political Titans like the Nwodo Political Dynasty, it is always discernible that either he is miffed by their quintessential accomplishments or greed for filthy lucre.  This rejoinder is borne out of personal commitment to correct this negative impression created to obfuscate the people against the most formidable Political Dynasty in the history of Enugu State nay Nigeria. Chris Oji, a correspondent with the Nation Newspapers wrote an article published on the 18th July 2012 with the caption “is it all over for the Nwodo Political Dynasty? “ In the said publication Chris Oji pointed out among other things that the last political bout between Governor Chime has finally sent the Nwodos’ out of both political and social scenes in the Country. And to support his assertion Mr. Oji was of the view that inability of the Nwodos to attend the burial ceremony of late Biafra leader Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Governor Chime’s mother, and that of the father of Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremmadu shows that the much respected Nwodo dynasty is totally down and out politically. It is totally disheartening when the ink of a journalist drips with fat-wallet-induced logic. From when did attending burial ceremony a veritable parameter to weigh political strength? Even at that why do he tend to mislead others into believing that the Nwodos failed to bid farewell to the Ex Biafra Leader just to score a despicable political point. For the records; Chief Nnia Nwodo (jnr), former Minister of Information, stated that “The death of Ojukwu marks a sad end to the bold, courageous and unwavering commitment to speak up at critical moments on issues affecting our country. His voice was unmistakably patriotic for the Ndigbo. Their true leader is gone. In post independent Nigeria, no Igbo leader has championed Igbo courses as fearlessly as he did which led to his loss of personal and family resources, denial of economic opportunities and privileges associated with his status. But he remained dogged, devoted and prepared to live with those deprivations because of his commitment to the selfless leadership of his country. Personally, I’ve lost a close and devoted friend – one whose intellectual intercourse with me will remain indelible in my mind. May his soul rest in perfect peace!”This heart rendering eulogy from Nwodo to Ojukwu showed that John Nwodo was shocked by the death of Ezeigbo Gburugburu. Also in publication by Vanguard newspapers on March 1st 2012 showed that Nnia Nwodo was not only active during Ojukwu’s burial but also a member of the Burial Committee. And yet Chris Oji said the Nwodos have disappeared, just to satisfy his paymasters.
In the same vain “Dr. Joe Nwodo, described the death of Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, as a monumental tragedy pointing out that “Ojukwu has been the only voice for change of direction to restore our people to their full rights”. In a telephone chat with The Guardian over the news of the demise of the ex-Biafran warlord, Dr. Nwodo, who was a former presidential aspirant under the defunct National Republican Convention, (NRC); noted that between Ojukwu and other leaders, “it is an advancing gulf between change and no change”. Guardian Newspapers Sunday, 27 November 2011.
However, Vanguard Newspaper reported on February 28, 2012 that Dr. Okwesilieze Emmanuel Nwodo was among other eminent Nigerians to welcome the body of late Ojukwu at the Abuja Airport ” Roll call After the ceremonial parade, witnessed by Vice President Namadi Sambo, who represented President Goodluck Jonathan; Dame Patience Jonathan; Senate President David Mark; Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim; Deputy House of Representatives Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha; Justice Chukwudifu Oputa (rtd); Governor Peter Obi; Chief Tom Ikimi; Chief Jim Nwobodo; Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo; Lt. General Chris Obiakor (rtd); and FCT Minister, Bala Mohammed, the corpse was carried into Nigeria Airforce C-130 aircraft registered NAF 917 and flown to Owerri”
Wherein lies the credibility of Chris Oji to malign the Nwodos on the death of Ojukwu?
“Meanwhile, The former National Chairman of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo has described the death of the former Biafran warlord Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu as the end of an era. In a release in Abuja, Nwodo said that the death of Ikemba Nnewi, came as a rude shock to all especially fervent prayers had been said and hopes raised on his recovery. Nwodo, who was a one -time Governor Enugu state, added that “here, unfortunately, is the end of an era, an era when men were men.  Men who lived and fought for what they believed in and were ready to pay the supreme sacrifice for their belief.  Ikemba was a leader made in this mold” Extolling Ojukwu’s great erudition and communication skills that assisted him greatly in prosecuting the Nigeria/ Biafra war, Nwodo noted that the legendary ingenious Biafra Technology could be ascribed to his leadership”. Leadership Newspapers Mon, 28/11/2011. And as usual, Chris Oji, was ardently blindfolded by the amount of money in his pocket to do a yoe man's job
Historically, the Dynasty was said to have picked up steam during the time of a Patriarch and Paramount Chief Late Odo Nwokoro, and strengthened by Late Igwe J.U Nwodo who was a well known leader, and served as a minister in the first Republic. Igwe J.U Nwodo strategically groomed his scions not only to be fervent leaders to take after him but also sustain the integrity of the Dynasty.
The trio that are at the fore front of the Dynasty are well trained professionals in their various fields of endeavor, and have carved a niche for themselves as men with robust integrity and humane sensibilities. Dr Joe Nwodo was a Presidential aspirant under the NRC platform during IBB’s transition.
Dr. Okwesilieze Emmanuel Nwodo (EZE ANYAWU) is a surgeon par excellence, a successful politician and an avowed Leader. John Nwodo (Jnr), was a special assistant to President Shehu Shagari before serving as a minister for a few months in 1983.  He later also served as minister under General Abdulsalami Abubakar between 1998 and 1999.
The essence of this abridged introduction of the Nwodos, is to underscore the point that unlike other political opportunists who never seen the four walls of any university and yet capture political power out of mere connection. The Dynasty is very formidable not only because of the leadership trait that runs in their family, and built over the years by their father and forefathers but also because of their exceptional quality, resounding academic background and leadership experience across every spectrum in Nigerian Politics.
Ordinarily, the repositories of Nwodo Dynasty are all individually qualified to occupy any position in Nigeria based on merit and cognate experience.  For instance, when it became obvious that it is the turn of the Easterners to produce PDP National Chairman, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo was marked out to be the Chairman not out of sheer political favour but because he eminently qualified for it. 
Similarly, when Enugu State marked its 100 years of existence, the State Government wanted to mark the occasion in a grand style and needed a Man with unequaled leadership and managerial expertise, John Nnia Nwodo (Jnr) was chosen as the Chairman of the Centenary Committee to give it a National clout. A position he later resigned voluntarily.
The most intriguing attributes of the Dynasty is that they don’t throw wealth around or rent crowd to curry the favour of the electorate or command followership. They root their campaign message as a cause that will favour the generality of the masses when actualized. And when the followers view it as a cause they make individual commitment to actualize the dream. 
However, even when the Nwodos have ideological differences and join different political parties the goal of the Dynasty and family cohesion is always maintained. Generally, it is a known practice by our politicians that when your party is defeated you join the winning (the moving train) Party to get favour but not the same with the Nwodos, when they are in opposition they remain there with their followers until the time becomes ripe for a strategic shift.
Therefore, no sane person that knows the dynamic nature of the Dynasty in positioning itself for greater political achievements will commit himself in berating political giants like the Nwodos.  And as people like Chris Oji are busy talking about the Nwodos they are busy grooming other members of the Dynasty that will keep the candle aflame and in no sooner time other rare breeds of the Dynasty will as well crop up.
Moreover, Nwodo Political Dynasty can be said to be out of public glare because our political system as it is presently constituted only paves way for opportunists and green horn and when our voting system encourages the real elites to mount the podium, the Nwodos will not only bounce back but also assume the center stage because the structure and followers of the dynasty are very much alive.
Finally, engaging the Nwodo political machine in unguarded tongue lash requires critical evaluation and balanced thinking, but Chris Oji gave himself away albeit so cheaply when he pointed out that  “One thing that cannot be denied the Nwodos is their power of oratory. It is only the stone hearted that will not melt at their oratorical speeches. In addition, they are highly connected nationwide”. 

If the Nwodos still have this attributes according to Chris what then is left of a politician that worth his mettle? Politics as we know it is never a game for the dumb or mediocre but unfortunately that is the ilk of those that call themselves politicians and our leaders.
Why on earth does a writer capitalize on burial ceremony attendance as a measure of political strength? Historically, former President Olusegun Obasanjo was in prison for years and only came out to be the President of the Country. Late President Yaradua spent most of his tenure as Kastina State Governor in the comfort of his sick bed and hospital and later became the president without braking record as a social junkie.
It is therefore; very clear that Chris Oji was doing a hatchet job in order to massage the ego of his pay masters by trying to debase the bastion of our democratic heritage. Political power is very transient and those who think they are at vantage position today may as well wake up tomorrow in utter dismay. We are therefore not blind to know our real leaders and true politicians’ only time will tell.

Barr. Ozor Ozoduru I.C

Sunday, July 7, 2013

EVERYONE OF US IS A PAGAN/ATHEIST WORLDWIDE

One man’s devoted believer is another’s Pagan. Make no mistake nor be fooled by pseudo inter-religious public relations. Each time inner circle of Pastor Oritsejafor CAN is gathered alone - anyone who doesn’t member their Christian cult is a hopeless Pagan Atheist.
And, the same is true any time Muslim brotherhoods in northern Nigeria meet in a lonely place: say of worship – all who’re not Muslim are sinning Pagans or Atheist losers.
If you imply that I’m Atheist for not believing in the supremacy of your personal God, you’re also as my Atheist for not having the choice to freethinking will as I do. Should you refer me as Pagan for not being Jewish, Christian or Muslim - you too, is my Pagan for going contrary to my own system of believing. And in the end, we’re all godforsaken Pagan-Atheist to the other sect or person. And does that move this word ahead one bit?
The greatest mistake humanity did was to let the tree dominant religions of Christianity, Jewish and Muslim to dictate who a Pagan or Atheist is linguistically. But in practical sense, all religions do not differentiate Paganism from Atheism and sundry biases. They classify everyone along the line of ‘with us or against us, good guys and bad guys, sinners and believers.’ I hear that someone is raising huge sums of money to re-write part of the Bible and I hope all religious Books are rewritten to mirror present day happenings. And when that’s done – I’d certainly appreciate if they replace the Pagan/Atheist biases with “... everyone has got the right to decides his own destiny, and in this judgement, there’s no partiality” as sang by Bob Marley the reggae champion singer.
This article is dedicated to Mr. Sabella Ogbobode Abidde who wrote an article “The Night I Confessed My Sins” as published by Sahara Reporters on June 5, 2011. He wrote clearly how he painfully became born-again Christian after two decades of being an ‘atheist.’ He had to do that in other to fit into the Nigerian society where freethinking mindset is labelled with utmost suspicion and bias as stereotypical behaviour of Satanists.
Mr Sabella needed and urgently too, to belong to a particular religious cult so as to feel accepted by members of the Nigerian society who feared his independent freethinking will as unacceptable. He wrote: “I became a born-again Christian. I had to because I couldn't take it anymore: I couldn't take the suffering, the abuse, the ridicule and the insinuations.”  And so he added: “You cannot imagine the abuses that came my way when I tell people I don't do God or Church or any form of religion. Some would even ask: "if you don't serve God, what do you serve?" to which I usually would answer, "If I don't serve God must I necessarily serve some other gods?"
A lot of religionists stay in the comfort zone of their religious codes to call others Atheist or Pagan. What they do not realise is the fact that – they too, are unbelievers to those they call Pagans. Every religion’s ethical code addresses their followers as true-believers and the rest as heretical misbegotten Pagan/Atheist. Everyone on this planet is an Atheist Pagan to the other person or group.
True. If you’d want to put the Atheist and counter-Atheist label perception in proper perceptive, Nigeria with its religious and sundry other divides – is the best lab for this experiment. If the truth is to be told about present Nigeria, Northern Muslims sees Jonathan and his Southerner Christian brothers as election-rigging Pagan Atheists. While the Jonathan Southern Christians love to demonise Buhari and his Muslim northern cliques as hopeless Pagans in the light of post-election violence.
Practically, if you label me as an unbeliever because I do not belong to your religious creed, you yourself is an Atheist-Pagan to me – in that, you do not member my own religious cult. And that’s if you minus the usual pseudo congratulation various inter-faith organisations salute their opposing opponents with in the public. Which’s a different ballgame when likeminded religious cult clique members meet under themselves: all men are condemned except their niche people.
But the Osama Bin Laden group stands out for being able to cross the line of pretension which most religious practitioners haven’t the gut to proclaim publicly. His group would say clear-cut that it’s either you’re a Muslin or an Atheist Pagan. Either you’re with them or against them. No middle ground for the Sabella Ogbobode Abiddes of this world. Truth is bitter though. But Bin Laden group have been able paint and pinpoint the real picture of the mindset of those who found those religions. Which is to dominate the others as the good guys and rest in their various otherness’s, as the bad guys?
Although Mr Sabella Ogbobode Abidde described himself as an easygoing Christian type who could mix freely and do as he pleases – but, you still want to pity this guys who could not hold his personal conviction or strive but sold out cheap to Middle Eastern religion. Our forefathers and mothers would be crying ‘religious apostasy’ in their graves against Sabella Ogbobode and those who’ve accepted foreign religion as their articles of faith.
One good thing is that you’d be happy to have a Sabella as next door neighbour than any hardcore religionist. A least, you could invite him to a beer-drinking hip hop disco where you could both dance to the hip-hop tune: ‘bitch better have my money.’ And the next day, arrange with him to attend reggae dancehall with Lady Saw playing live with both of you knowing that she some times intentionally exposes her underwear or pant while onstage.
And however, it’s better to have freestyle Christian than having one-way thinking religious fanatic. Who’ll paganise you at his personal say-so. Man wasn’t born religious nor was he born with it. Religion is a human construct like the English language ‘Pagan’ was constructed at a point in time in human history – to defame some and applaud others.
The Early Man and our foremothers didn’t practice religion. Religion accidentally and experimentally developed at a certain time in the development of human history as the words Paganism and Atheism respectively. Man wasn’t originally born with those. Any time you see people who don’t member your religious cult, give them a hug and let them be. Embrace humanity and chuck away religion for once and for good.
Sunday Njokede writes from The European Union
rig2015electionyoudie@rocketmail.com

Sunday, May 19, 2013

NIGERIA, RELIGION AND I- A REJOINDER

Let me start by praising the efforts of Chikadibie Okafo at pointing out without fear or favour the problem with Nigerian masses. I agree with Chika a whole lot of 95% and the other five percent is what I am here to correct. Having said this, it means that I am in agreement with those areas this rejoinder fails to cover. Please pay more attention to read up the middle chapters in order to appreciate my major arguments.
The area I need to touch concerns his take on Christian and particularly Catholic teachings which does not also mean that they are tested truths, but that they have reasonable explanations to which Chika alluded to in the final paragraph of his article. I am also a Catholic who grew up like Chika did and had to attend catechism classes in order to receive First Holy Communion and be confirmed as soldiers of the faith. But the difference between me and Chika is that after he was confirmed, Chika restricted his Christian practices to only Sundays Sunday medicine and that is what formed his incredulity.
Immaculate Conception.
Chika does not understand the Immaculate Conception or the reason why Catholics pray through Mary. Here again, my aim is to provide the reason behind it and you don’t need to attack me whether it is good practice or not after all no one is sure of anything. You may be surprised to learn that the person you call your father is not really your father, yet u can kill for it before DNA test considering your faith in your parents. Catholics believe that Jesus is not just the Lord, but God according to John chapter one making allusion to Genesis Chapter one verse one. If Jesus is God and God is Spirit, he does not have Flesh because God is spirit.

Thus for Jesus who is God to come here and live with us, he needed flesh and had to borrow it from Mary. Catholics also believe in original sin which brought expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and through which corruption of the flesh started. If Mary conceived Jesus through sexual union, then Jesus shares original sin with us and if so, he cannot save man from the same original sin. A blind man does not lead a blind man.
Catholics also believe that although Mary’ parents Joachim and Ann got her through sexual union; she was exempt from sharing the original sin so that she cannot transfer the same to Jesus. In fact Catholics believe that Mary’s body which is the same with that of Jesus knew no decay. If Mary’ body decayed, then resurrection is rubbish since the origin of that body also knew corruption.

These are just speculation but which are so important that once it is disproved and divinity of Jesus denied, then Christianity not just Catholicism becomes baseless. If Jesus is considered a man, then it is either his coming is useless or there is no original sin making baptism worthless. Even John wondered why Jesus should be baptised believing that Jesus is God and does not share in original sin to need baptism. But because Jesus had to borrow even his clan, he had to baptise as the Jews did and became a Pharisee so he can have access to teach. Thus Immaculate Conception has the divinity of Jesus at its base and once you disprove it, Jesus’ cry on the cross ‘consumatum est’ might mean another thing which humanity cannot just start researching again now after all these years.
CATHOLIC TRADITION AND THE BIBLE: We have to understand that Catholic Church has come through many ages, endured many schisms and heresies and thus has amassed so much to teach both in morals and doctrines and people should agree with me that you don’t teach these on Sundays within just less than 30mins some priests deliver homily. The church knew this and for the benefit of those who cannot read, avenues to learn these teachings about catholic morals and doctrines abounds. The most conspicuous of them is the Sunday evening instruction where the Bible readings of the days are explained more in details and questions allowed from the faithful.
We must know that Catholic Church’s calendar has three years (AB&C) for Sundays and Two years (A and B) for weekdays where it is presumed that a faithful that attends masses on Sundays for three consecutive years must have heard or read the bible from Genesis to revelation. Moreover if one attends morning masses on weekdays for 2 consecutive years, he must have heard or read the same bible from Genesis to revelation. Thus in three years, a devout catholic must have read the bible twice and if he/she attends the evening instructions on Sundays, he must have heard or asked questions about in depths and explanations of the bible.
But most Catholics do not devote the time they devote to frivolities when they eventually leave the church. There are church laws, but people do not keep them because there is no immediate punishment and thus they fail to learn anything. But when they join secret societies, they can even go to the extent of killing to keep its laws. Those who leave Catholic church must ask themselves one question: “Was I active enough and have learnt all and understood the teaching before in I ‘repented’”? This is Just about working hard. There are people, who read just Igbo literature, but they are influential people in the world today while there are others who read Medicine, yet they could not get a good job. Did you work hard where you started? If you leave Political science where u don’t even read and go to medicine and work hard and be successful, there is nothing wrong with Pol. Sci., it was about you and your effort. So wake up and learn!
The Catholic Church has many other avenues one may learn and work out his salvation which I cannot come here to recant but which those who need should go and ask their Parish priests.
CATHOLIC CHURCH AND MIXED MARRIAGE: It is not true as Chika claimed that Catholic ladies are not allowed to marry a person who is not a catholic. Rather it is expected that permission must be granted by a local ordinary before such marriages. Chika should have gone through Cannons 1124 to 1128 before making his claims. The most apt of these cannons are as follows: 1124, Without the express permission of the competent authority, marriage is prohibited between two baptized persons, one of whom was baptized in the catholic Church or received into it after baptism and has not defected from it by a formal act, the other of whom belongs to a Church or ecclesial community not in full communion with the catholic Church.
Canon 1125 The local Ordinary can grant this permission if there is a just and reasonable cause. He is not to grant it unless the following conditions are fulfilled: Canon 1125.1 the catholic party is to declare that he or she is prepared to remove dangers of defecting from the faith, and is to make a sincere promise to do all in his or her power in order that all the children be baptized and brought up in the catholic Church; Canon 1125.2 the other party is to be informed in good time of these promises to be made by the catholic party, so that it is certain that he or she is truly aware of the promise and of the obligation of the catholic party.
 The reasons for these cannons are not farfetched. Catholic Church believes they are the oldest Christian faith and hold the truth about Jesus Christ (This they believe, forget about its veracity at least for now). So to make sure that Catholics are not led astray considering the warnings of Matthew’s Gospel chapter 24 and John’s Gospel Chapter 10, such marriages and loss of faith is forbidden. If a Bishop in the church believes that other Christian faith’s are making mistakes, why would he leave his doors open for his faithful to join those faiths? If he does, then it is better he closes his own entirely and join those others. In fact it is those who are not sure of the veracity or authenticity of their faith and teaching that would allow such defection with the word “after all we are all Christians” Yes we are all Christians, but we are not all true Christian faiths. Some has histories and original documents in the original languages and cultures of Jesus who we worship, others originates along major roads into big cities in Nigeria while others are near the beaches in Lagos. The truths they teach are not the same and if I am a Bishop, I won’t make laws that will mislead you into understanding that the churches are all the same. However, the church is not stopping any one physically.
Catholic Church cannot also be a one person’s church and thus may be difficult for a priest to deceive you on personal grounds. But these new churches can easily deceive since they have one man origin. I had such opportunity when I came up to London newly and delivered speech in a religious gathering. A pastor approached me with an offer to become a junior pastor in training in his church, today I regret not accepting that offer, because, man! he is now a rich man.
FATIMA APPARITION OF BVM TO THREE SHEPHARDS OF FATIMA: Let me start by saying here that Catholic Church has both private and public revelations. Bible is considered public which the Catholic Church considers a must for every faithful to accept. Private relations which include such mysterious appearances may be accepted by the church but you are free to reject them which Chika here just did. Although some of these things can be manipulated by overzealous priests (I am philosophers and cannot be caught in such) the Catholic Church tends to accept these private revelations based on their collaboration of history and present events. For example, if the three children of Fatima were not manipulated by overzealous adults, then it is hard to refute the children’s story with links to the Second World War which ended the following year and which they were even too young and uneducated to understand.  The Lourdes apparition also needs certain questions to have happened when the catholic hierarchy was debating Immaculate Conception and featuring a lady not educated to understand such things. Was this Lourdes apparition also manipulated so as to show the divine support of such doctrine? We may not know. But I have seen no disadvantage in believing in them and none in rejecting them.
Considering the story of the children collaborated by the media then, I don’t want to reject the story or accept it since there are possibilities in this life. However despite all my philosophical studies I find myself taking Jacinta the youngest of the three as my Matron Saint. The children were separated and interviewed after each apparition and most striking are two points. They were asked separately the colour of Mary’s dress, the colour of her feet and the direction she took when departing. While one of the children thought she wore white stockings, the other thought she wore no stockings but her feet were white in colour. They got the colour of her dress and direction of her departure. While these details were not supposed to be occupying the minds of children under 10years old in such apparition, they however collaborated each other’s story.

With a critical mind though, spirits are supposed to be invisible and these children were securely guarded once the story became public and thus the veracity of these interviews may still be in doubt. Thus one must not accept them nor believe in them. If Chika follows Public revelations in catholic faith, surely that is enough and it does not support political inactivity.
PRAYING THROUGH MARY: The Catholic Church believes that its family are divided into three- the journeying church which represent those of us here, the suffering church who died but have not attained heaven and the glorious church who are heaven. In the same way prayers and honours are reserved in the family based on where one is in the church. Latria is honour or worship reserved to God alone because he is the head of the church and is present in all three sections of the church. Dulia is reserved to all the saints in the church for the trials they underwent and become glorious. Hyperdulia is reserved to Mary the mother of God because of her special role in the history of salvation which the church represents.
Recently Grail Massage is trying to promote the sacred feminine through a way I am yet to understand. But Revelation Chapter 12 seems to refer to Mary and his role in the birth of Jesus. Just like the wedding of Cana in Galilee, at the instant of Mary, Jesus performed his first miracle. This sounds ridiculous because it presented Mary as a commander or in fact above Jesus, but as Christians we believe in the bible and that is bible teaching. Emotional plea does not transform into command. Moreover, sometimes when I have not even paid my house rent here in UK, my mother always makes request for those who need help and which I must do something about. Ordinarily, I don’t think I would, but I find myself planning in advance to accommodate those people. In the same way, if Jesus obliged his mother here on earth why not now she is supposed to have some authority at the instance of his son?
Catholics believes that she is the queen of heaven, no matter its veracity, queens do have authority, not by their own power but by the power of the people she reins over. Don’t forget too that all those powers was left to peter to bind and unbind (read John chapters 19-21). The Catholic Church through his head Jesus made Mary the queen of the church and they believe that she has the power to influence Jesus whatever they mean or understand by that.
Conclusion: One does not argue from a pointless point. We have to start from somewhere in life. We need faith anchor in this confused world and more especially in Nigeria. If you ask me, the truth we have about God is not up to 1%, yet I am a believer, a strong Catholic. I am a philosopher and I admired Socrates for dying for what he believed in. Aristotle was accused of the same at age 75, but he ran away lest government commit the same sin against philosophy the second time. Yet he died the following year. They were not sure, but they had to believe in something. Me I believe in God, Jesus and Catholic Church. These may all be false but why don’t I start from somewhere in the face of nothing better on offer?
What if we are just ‘dreams’ by a bigger being? The day he wakes up, we cease to exist. What if human sufferings, death, western subjugation of Africa are just minute in the scheme of things? Surely if these suffering in life, the injustices of existence are paramount, God if he exists would have done something about them. But believe me, the apparent silence of God or his/her inactivity means that in the scheme of important things, Nigeria and her situation occupy the lowest level. Time for Kids to settle among themselves for their WHORTLESS toys if they actually need peace or fight it out to claim what is theirs!!!

Okonkwor Joseph is a PhD student in Philosophy.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

THE GOSPEL MATERIALISM- NIGERIAN PENTECOSTALISM AND HYPOCRISY

It is perhaps pertinent at this stage of our history, at this turn of our political and socio-economic life, while searching for lasting solutions to our myriad national problems, to take a look at the contributory factors induced by religion. My focus is on our modern day version of Christianity, Pentecostalism, which seems to be the in-thing nowadays. It is no gainsaying that it is perfectly normal nowadays, that for one to be socially acceptable, one must be a Christian. A Christian not just in terms of accepting the doctrines of the Christian church as it was said to have been postulated by Jesus Christ, but to be born again. Religion, which ordinarily should have been a strong social and moral weapon, is today a strong source of social concern in our motherland. Our Christian men of God today have contributed in no small ways to the social upheaval the Nigerian nation is going through at the present moment. They laid the foundation of greed and social discontent from which the society is yet to come to terms. They departed radically from the preaching of the Lord Jesus which emphasised contentment and instead substituted greed and avarice into the social lexicon. They offer wishy-washy holiness and continue to inundate us with the doctrines of prosperity, albeit, prosperity at all costs. They decided to build a temple of materialism from which they hold the befuddled populace in a trance-like grip. They pretend holiness while their every deed and acts spell materialism and nothing but materialism. They have constituted themselves into a national shame seeing profit in a false preaching and call to a material God. Writing on the surge of Pentecostalism in Nigeria is a daunting task. This phenomenon which has been aptly described as a “disease” by the Rev. Nyansako-ni-Nku, President of the All Africa Conference of Churches in 2007, has taken our dear country like wildfire. The respected clergy man stressed the need to rescue people from this spiritual trap. Nigeria, in particular, is experiencing the fastest growth in Christianity in Africa with the Pentecostal churches playing a very large role in this development. There are about 3.9 million Pentecostal members in Nigeria, following only Brazil with about 24 million members. Nigerian Pentecostalism has been thriving on the people’s ignorance, surviving on a mixture of evangelism which incorporates African traditional beliefs. They have been surviving on befuddling the populace with miracles and promises of prosperity. African Pentecostal followers are repeatedly told that the “Holy Spirit changes lives so that sickness and calamity only befalls non-believers”. However, it is only the believer who is able to double his donations to the church that is guaranteed the favours of this material God. The success of the incorporation of old traditional beliefs into mainstream Christianity (by Pentecostals) brings into full circle old superstitions which were hitherto marginalised by more mainstream Christian missionaries (Erhard Kamphausen, Head of Academy Mission, University of Hamburg). Unlike their counterparts in various parts of the world, who devoted their time and energy to the development of their countries and to fighting the cause of the poor, Nigerian Pentecostal clergymen would rather wine and dine with those in power, even in the presence of abiding poverty and hunger in the land. The romance with politics was never as intense as in the fourth republic when our men of religion came out openly in support of Olusegun Obasanjo, a so-called born-again Pentecostal Christian. All through the years of Obasanjo’s misrule, the celebrated Pentecostal community could only muster whimpers of protest at the audacity of that dubious man who hid under the cloak of a condescending religion. Before the controversial landslide election victory of Obasanjo in 2003, the president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Mike Okonkwo, urged all Nigerians to vote once more for the tyranny and misrule of Obasanjo, since he was one of the folds. In fact, around that time, Enoch Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God likened Obasanjo to the prophet Elisha whom God had “specially ordained”. This was just one in the unguarded forays of Pastor Adeboye into the murky waters of politics. I can vividly remember this pastor openly anointing Olusegun Osoba as the only one fit for the government house when Osoba was seeking for the second term which he eventually lost. While all Nigerians were aghast at the effrontery of Obasanjo during the infamous third term debacle, it took the boldness of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor in May 2006 to declare that “third term in office is not a crime”. Yes, dear pastor, it would not have been a crime, only that our doctored constitution did not allow it and Nigerians never wanted it. Our men of God have gallantly deviated from the path and only pay lip service to the true essence of Christianity. The fact that the church business remains one of the most flourishing businesses in Nigeria is openly embraced and flaunted in our faces without apologies. Holiness in their preaching translates to wealth. You can only be holy if you are wealthy and powerful. The ignorant masses are made to witness organised miracles and made to hope on promises of prosperity. After all, “our God is a God of riches and miracles”. The race for material wealth is actively influenced by these supposed men of God. In order to continually give testimonies in churches, men and women would do anything for money. No source of wealth is ever questioned by the “Gods” of these prosperity preachers. All are welcome in the sight of the almighty. There is obviously nothing wrong with seeking prosperity. However, there are many things wrong with striving to be rich at all costs so as to appear as the specially-favoured of a material-minded God with the society remaining morally bankrupt for it. The Christian teaching have always emphasised that the pursuit of God, while not in contradiction with material comfort, has nevertheless stressed its incompatibility with unbridled pursuit of materialism. It is only apt to state that our dear nation, while in the throes of despicable political leadership, is also groaning under a terrible assault by a cult of religious materialists. We are living in an era of religious materialism, also known as spiritual Pentecostalism, and the society is poorer for it. Is it not surprising that in the various fronts that have arisen in our struggle for the socio-political and economic emancipation of Nigeria, the hierarchy of the Christian fold, especially the charismatic arm, has been frighteningly silent. We read of the activities of the clergy of other climes in their identification with the struggles of their people. Uganda is a country that readily comes to mind when it comes to clergy-activism. The Latin American countries have also demonstrated that it is possible and holy to identify with the oppressed masses. All we see our Pentecostal leaders doing is actively embracing corrupt leaderships, vigorously protecting their establishments, declaring million dollar profits, opening universities after universities and buying jets upon jets. The lucrative nature of this modern day pseudo-Christianity can only be explained by the rapid nature of its spread. It is particularly endearing to many Nigerians because of its tendencies to revert to traditional means in their efforts to perform miracles. Their flamboyance is another attractive feature as this is well attuned to the African psyche that loves all things vain and gorgeous. Pentecostal churches and hotels compete for space in Nigeria while cinema halls, disused warehouses, bars, brothels and night clubs have all been turned to churches. To maintain their grip on the people and to assure the comfort of their profit base, these churches have been extremely creative, particularly in the use of the media, radio, television, newspaper, posters, electronic mails and even the internet. Even the home video industry has been virtually taken over by the Pentecostal industry (Musa A Guiyab, University of Jos, Nigeria). Perhaps a journey down history lane would show that the origin of Pentecostalism in Nigeria was practically devoid of altruism midstream. While the native pastorate policy of Rev Henry Venn was actually meant to empower native Africans in the running of the Anglican Church leading to the emergence of Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther. The subsequent indigenous prophetic movement that later became the Christ Army Church in the 1920s probably served as the impetus that led to the formation of the Aladuras, and later that of Christ Apostolic Church by Joseph Babalola in 1941. The formation of the Celestial Church of Christ while expanding the fold increased the incorporation of native African precepts into the teachings of Pentecostalism tremendously. The increasing nature of the newly formed Redeemed Christian Church of God was further accentuated by the leadership of Enoch Adeboye, with the phenomenal expansion of the church thereafter. However, in the 1960s to 1970s, originating in the wave of evangelical student revivals, new Pentecostal churches were brought into being with Benson Idahosa emerging as the leader of this breed. The Deeper Life Bible Church was one of those churches that emerged and remains one of the largest neo-Pentecostal churches to date. However, unlike others, it remains conservative up to these days. No doubt, the spread of evangelical student revivals were influenced in no small measures by the exposure to the teachings of Oral Roberts, Robert Tilton, Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin and a host of others. It must be said that the influence of Benson Idahosa on the extremely materialistic nature of Nigeria’s Pentecostalism was in no small measure. To this date, this material man of God remains the reference point in assessing materialism in Nigerian Pentecostalism. It may be necessary at this juncture to take a look at how much God had blessed his children while preaching the Pentecostal message. In the course of waking up the dead and making the lame walk, Nigerian Pentecostals have continued to organise crusades and revivals to bring solutions to the numerous problems afflicting the people. Problems such as barrenness, unemployment, financial difficulties, deliverance from ancestral curses, sickness and so on. In the course of performing these miracles and wonders, our pastors have not done badly financially. Of note is the Christ Embassy Church of Pastor Chris Oyakhilome which has an annual turn-over running into billions of naira. David Oyedepo, the general overseer of Living Faith Ministries (aka Winners Chapel) has grown into what is termed “an oak tree in Christendom”. His riches are stupendous and his ministry boasts of a 50,000 capacity worship centre known as Cannanland in Otta, Ogun state, along with a private university and many other similar interests. Of course, his Holiness rides in a private jet to further enhance the business of his ministry. Adefarasin is an eloquent and charismatic televangelist whose mission today boasts of a 1.3 billion “Rock Millennium Temple” that was meant to accommodate thousands of worshippers. Other pastors are not lagging behind with the likes of Chris Okotie, Samuel Abiara, Victor Onukogu, Emmanuel Ede, Ejike Mbaka, Temitopoe Joshua, Theophilus Olabayo and Mathew Ashomolowo boasting of billions of naira amongst them collectively. While much can be said about the docility of our present day men of the bible in the face of the social injustice and economic marginalisation of the masses, a special mention must be made of one who refused to toe the line. Pastor Tunde Bakare of the Latter Rain Assembly remains a lone voice in a class of acquiescent men of liturgy. His non-conforming attitude to the Obasanjo years remains fresh in memory. In particular, his prophecy on “Hundred Days and Hundred Ways” rattled the then government so much that he was promptly arrested and interrogated by the State Security Service. While the nation is being plundered, Nigeria’s holy men are busy licking milk and honey. While majority of Nigerians can hardly afford three square meals, Nigerian men of the word are busy counting billions and flying in private jets. While the nation is burning, our pastors are busy baking and eating cake. The people have been starved of divine knowledge because an informed people remain a threat to the interests of the “church”. The moral fabric of the nation is weak and appalling, almost non-existent. Yet Nigeria boasts of thousands of churches with stupendously rich ministers. Deception is being actively pursued under the guise of Christianity. While we have no quarrel with an honest business that generates profits, all we ask of these material men of God is to be sincere and stop this deception. All we desire is the truth in our efforts to sanitise the Nigerian society. Jesus brought the gospel of love, peace and redemption but Nigerians are being short-changed as what we are getting is plainly the Gospel of Materialism. It is so bad that the whole thing has been turned into ridicule and the pastors are busy fleecing the society blind. May God save us!


The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of SaharaReporters

Friday, February 22, 2013

NIGERIAN CLERICS: KICKING GOD, KISSING THE DOG

When Karl Heinrich Marx, the 19th Century German Philosopher, Economist, Sociologist, Historian, Journalist and Revolutionary Socialist, declared that religion is the opium of the people, he could as well have been speaking of contemporary Nigeria and other undeveloped parts of the world. Religions have provided deceptive avenues for the location and hide-out of every manner of persons who have failed in other careers.
Instead of using their past failures or non-fulfilment as a stepping stone to attempt other careers, they descend on religion; religion thus has provided unlimited space for several of such vocational dropouts to hibernate. With nothing but money in their mind, they plot the exploitation of human weaknesses for their selfish benefits, through preying on gullible and unsuspecting adherents. And a sketch of world religions will clearly demonstrate that religion is a strong commodity.
 

World Religions
Four largest religions
Adherents
Percentage of world population
Further information
World population
6.9 billion[1]
Figure used by individual articles
Christianity
2,000,000,000
29%
Christianity by country
Islam
1,650,000,000
24%
Islam by country
No religion
1,100,000,000
16%
Irreligion by country
Hinduism
999,800,358
14.5%
Hinduism by country
Buddhism
489,807,761 – 690,847,214 – 1,921,989,641, depending on extent of syncretism
7.342% – 10.356% – 28.775%
Buddhism by country
Total
6.8 billion
93.5%
 
  
    

Little wonder that Karl Marx can make his captivating submission. Religion is the opium of the people, one of his most frequently paraphrased statements, was translated from the German original, “Die Religion…ist das opium des Volkes.” The quotation originates from the introduction of his epic work, “A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right.” The full quote is:
Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.”

This commentary perhaps may or may not generate diverse opinions. But reactions are welcome as long as they are meant to draw the attention of Nigerian clergymen and clergywomen to introspectively re-consider their individual or group profile before God, Whom they claim to serve, before their innocent adherents and before the larger society. Let me also state strongly that I am not passing judgment on the clerics but calling their attention to the unsavoury image the lifestyle of some within their fold has created for Nigerian Christians.
I am not unmindful of the fact that in recent times, Nigerian clergymen and clergywomen have done some positive work to expand the Kingdom of God and the Good News globally.
It is a fact that today, it is Nigerian priests on missionary exploits who are building large churches in the states of Europe, Asia and the United States of America. The Europeans and Americans, who in the 19th and 20th centuries came on missionary journeys to Nigeria and other sub-Saharan African nations, have virtually moved on to other pastimes, as their societies have conquered hunger, and achieved self-sufficiency in housing, clothing, efficient transportation, relatively quality education, medical care and care for the aged. These services that Western societies take for granted are still the aspirations of a continent, where about 70% citizenry remains pauperized and dehumanized by both military and civilian rulers who have appropriated the commonwealth to themselves and their fellow conspirators.
The current state of religion’s expansion in Nigeria without commensurate godliness is just part of the fulfilment of the prophecy contained in both the Old Testament and the New Testament as signs of the end times. These signs are illustrated particularly in Ezekiel 34:2-7 and 27, and Mathew 24:11-12, respectively. Ezekiel 34:7-10 and 27 states:
“Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock; Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds...”

Meanwhile, Matthew 24:11-12, predicts:
“And many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”

An American-based research group in 2010 reported that Nigeria was the most religious country in the world. Another organization, measuring citizens’ state of mind in 2008, reported that Nigerians happen to be the “happiest” of all people globally.
That is a paradox. How can the sixth largest exporter of crude oil, with about $400 billion gross oil earnings, have one of the most wretched people in the world, have unprecedented levels of poverty, have about 70% of its population living on about $1 per day, have about 40% of its work force unemployed, and yet be considered the “happiest” place in the world? It beats logic. It is an irony. To say it is a contradiction to reality is an understatement. As a Nigerian, are you happy with all that you see?
Confronted with an economy that defies all understanding, Nigerians sought refuge in He who promises peace that passes all understanding. The national economy witnessed an unprecedented down-turn, and many Nigerians resorted to patronizing the many one-man founder churches for promised succour, comfort and varieties of trumpeted “miracles.”
In looking up to the hills of religion for help, these Nigerians were just being human. Humanity is faced with the regular situation of a state of anomie, confusion and paranoia in attempting to deal with the fear of the unknown. But once laid vulnerable, human psyche quickly becomes susceptible to various manipulations by so-called men of God. We have had the likes of the “Jesus of Oyingbo,” the “Saviour of Agege,” various Gurus, and their likes in the early 70s. And their proliferation in recent times is indicative of the end times as forewarned in the Bible. Many now deceptively profess to be Pastors, Bishops, Founders and General Overseers, Popes, Prophets, Evangelists, Imams, Ustazs, Gurus, Grandmasters, etc. But as prophesised, they usually come in sheep’s clothing. But they are wolves through and through. One common thread in their activities is that rather than proclaim God’s supremacy and the Gospel of Christ, they engage in vain self-glorification and self-advertisement of their accomplishment of the “supernatural and miracles.”
Apostle Paul’s divinely inspired teachings on the acceptable characteristics of true servants of God as contained in 2 Corinthians 2:14-26 and 1 Timothy 3:1-7 are noteworthy, particularly where he instructed in 1 Timothy 3-2-3 that:
“A Bishop must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach…. Not given to wine, no striker, NOT GREEDY OF FILTHY LUCRE, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous.”

Furthermore, Paul’s admonition in Titus 7-9 is helpful enough as guide post to our clergy.
There are numerous advertorials in the media, signposting where these charlatans make ridiculous claims of general and specific miracles –making babies for the barren, matching-making spinsters with life partners, securing jobs for the unemployed, healing the sick of afflictions, overcoming worshippers’ enemies, prophesying and foretelling for the curious, etc.
A particularly worrisome dimension to the reported cases of the outrageous conduct of many clergymen and clergywomen in recent times is the incredible race by church proprietors and leaders to out-pace, out-manoeuvre, and out-class their colleagues. They have embarked on this inordinate acquisition of cheap popularity, dubious wealth and the endorsement of and collaboration with politically-exposed persons and business tycoons capable of financing them. Many Nigerian clerics today will take tithes, offerings and gifts from anyone without questioning the sources of such largesse. And sometimes, these gift-givers wear the reputation of corruption, with provable evidence and indictment for misappropriating public funds. Yet our clerics will accept offerings from these degenerate dogs. In fact, they have shown a preference to kick their God and kiss these dogs. But they have queries they must answer their Creator and the society.
(1)    How can our clergymen justify their penchant for contracting their personal security to armed professional outfits? Why are they afraid, to the extent of employing bouncers to keep commoners from coming in contact with them? Are they not now in unholy competition with our political jobbers who hedge themselves in with armed guards and convoys?
(2)    How can our clergymen justify their ostentatious lifestyle and opulence in the current circumstances of extreme poverty and misery ravaging their flocks?
(3)    How can our Christian religious leaders rationalise their usage of private jets when their flocks are being manipulated through sophistry to part with their hard-earned donations and tithes?
(4)    What biblical foundation justifies their playing “god” in their various advertorials, propagandas, signboards and banners, as opposed to promoting Jesus Christ?
No doubt, the global community has entered the JET AGE, concomitant with the development of IT and social media, and many church Ministers just want to “belong.” But should our clergymen and clergywomen not return to the divine injunction of soberness and tenderness of the spirit to prevent further ridicule of Christendom?
Nothing here indicates we demand that our priests must be superhuman and behave like angels. But as we find in Luke 12:48, “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required” meaning that, “Greater privileges demand greater responsibilities.” In essence, anyone who has volunteered to heed the divine call must accept the demands, the disciplines and the denials concomitant with such a high calling. Otherwise, clerics have kicked God out of religion.

FORMER SECRETARY OF AFENIFERE AND NADECO, MR. AYO OPADOKUN IS CURRENTLY CHAIRMAN OF THE CENTRAL WORKING COMMITTEE, COALITION OF DEMOCRATS FOR ELECTORAL REFORMS (CODER)

Thursday, February 21, 2013

NIGERIA, RELIGION AND I

Karl Marx must have had a vision of the present day Nigeria when he submitted that “religion is the opium of the masses”. I am alarmed at the rate of religious bigotry and fanaticism especially amongst the Christian folks, the hitherto tolerant religion is now at the pinnacle of over-zealousness. From all indications, Nigerian Christians now employ all sorts of dodgy approaches in their bid to convince us “unbelievers” that we are all going to perish.
While Nigeria is daily galloping down the valley of perdition, my religious folks are daily ambushing me to “accept Jesus as my Lord and personal Saviour”. [Whatever that means].

As a child born into a Christian family, [Catholic] I went through the rigours of attending Mass every Sunday, passing my catechism classes before receiving the Holy Communion and eventual doing my “Confirmation”. In my catechism class, I was thought [and I believed it then] that an Anglican fellow’s chances of making heaven were extremely slim-almost impossible. As a child, I was thought to always pray to Maria and ask for the forgiveness of my sins-sins I knew nothing about. To cut a long story short, I practiced all I was taught in my catholic faith up till adulthood. As with all cases involving the antics of a rational being, my perception of the world has changed, my religious inclination is different now, to the chagrin of my Christian mates. I hereby wish to state once again for the benefits of my “born-again” folks that I do not accept certain teachings of Christianity as being true.
I do not believe that Mary the mother of Jesus appeared to three children in the village of Fatima in 1917 with the command that they pray regularly to her in order to appease her son, Jesus. That would be throwing modesty to the winds! Hence, anybody who tries to enjoin me to pray with the rosary will be insulting me. While still on Mary, I simply find the fable of Immaculate Conception too incredible to believe. I wonder why almost all the major religions of this world make claims to their founder being the product of some “immaculate conception”. Does anybody know the story of Buddha? 
While the rest of the world is making headways in science and technology, Nigerian Christians are making so much noise about the second coming of Jesus. Every street in Nigeria has a church with loudspeakers mounted at all the four corners, blaring! The message is always the same, though the ferocity and intensity of the threats may vary-the kingdom of God is at hand! I have no problem with anybody claiming that the kingdom of his God is “at hand”, but then when you ambush me with threats about hell fire and eternal destruction, weeping and “gnashing of teeth”, fire and brimstone, etc, I get angry. I simply will not accept that when eventually Jesus makes his second coming, everyone that does did not accept him as his “Lord and personal saviour” will be murdered! This is pure crap! Again, please when you wish to assert that “Jesus is the way and the truth….” leave me out of it. I don’t believe that.
Why is it difficult for Christians in Nigeria to accept that there is something like a “comparative theory of religion”? Why should anybody expect me to keep quiet when a preacher gets up in a coach I am travelling in and start shouting about nothing other than witches and wizards, blood sucking demons, principalities and powers[in high places o!], marine spirits, devils and demons, and of course hell fire? What good has religion done for Nigeria? Does religion make people moral? What has been the good impact of the thousands and pockets of churches and worship centres scattered all over Nigeria? What is keeping the Christian/Muslim God from killing our politicians who all swear by His name to be upright in discharging their duties rather than stealing our money? It is so annoying the way religion is being used as an instrument of suppression in Nigeria. Why should I “fast and pray” before I could get a job after graduating from the university?
What do we blame for this? How did Nigeria get to this sorry state? Nigerians accept anything said by a Pastor or Imam as the truth, and nothing but the truth, Nigerian leaders lie to the people in God’s name and nobody asks any question. Olusegun Obasanjo is the champion of this gaffe; he built a church inside Aso Rock where he worshipped with his otimkpus and Nigerians shouted that yes, he was a “God fearing president”, when he wanted to rig his way into Aso Rock for the second time, he claimed he was waiting for God to speak to him[ He finally did-through Maurice Iwu’s INEC], after squandering billions of dollars without any tangible result in the power sector, Obasanjo enjoined Nigerians to pray to God for electricity! And Nigerians went down on their knees-till this day! When Jonathan Goodluck assumed the position of the President of the Federal Republic, he gleefully announced that he was looking up to God for guidance; a clear testimony that he had no idea how to govern Nigeria. Now, his government has budgeted about N9.7 billion for a “Nigeria @ 50” party-is this the kind of guidance God is giving to this man? One would think that his God would have directed him to use that money in revamping the notorious Sagamu-Benin expressway that claims the lives of innocent and hapless Nigerians on a daily basis. Who is celebrating Nigeria at 50? Fifty years of what? Fifty years of monumental corruption! The only people that would be celebrating would be the IBBs, Abdulsalami Abukakar, Obasanjo, Atiku, Peter Odili, Jonathan, [he’s been too lucky] Lucky Igbenedion, Orji Uzor Kalu, David Mark, Bankole and the entire space-wasters/“cashivorous” National Assembly folks[ apologies to Pius Adesanmi]. Those are the ones who always hire pastors and imams to “proclaim the goodness of the Lord”. As for the ordinary Nigerian citizen, life is too hard and too short, what with the constant prayers and supplication to God for regular power supply, constant water supply, provision of passable roads, protection from enemies, armed robbers and kidnappers, financial breakthrough [ this is my year of unstoppable cash flow!], etc. So much confusion and “speaking in tongues”, casting, binding, uprooting and throwing into the abyss!
Religion will never lead Nigeria out of the wilderness, praying and fasting will not give Nigeria the much sought after uninterrupted power supply, building churches on both sides of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway wont get rid of the kleptomaniacs parading our corridors of power, organizing “miracle night” crusades at the National Stadium, Surulere will not stop our police officers from asking for “roger”. Is there any God in the confines of Nigeria? Why has He allowed so much suffering and hardship especially amongst the ordinary citizens of that country? Has God abandoned Nigeria in protest or frustration? Is there really any such thing as God’s intervention in the affairs of a nation? Is it God that is making the leaders of countries like China, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Ghana, and Botswana to be planning for a better society of man in their various countries? Nigerians are so obsessed with God to the point that we ignore the fact that leaders should be held responsible and accountable for their actions and inactions. Under apartheid rule, the South African blacks did not fast and pray for deliverance from the claws of their oppressors, they challenged the powers that be until they won. When Sani Abacha had Nigeria under his jack-boot, what did our religious leaders do? The Catholic Bishops came up with a hilarious “prayer for Nigeria in distress”, it was customary for everyone to recite that stupid prayer at the end of every mass. I am not privy to any miracle being as a result of that silly prayer. Developed and developing countries of the world do not rely on prayers in running their countries, they plan. The citizenry of better organized societies hold their leaders responsible for whatever they do while in power. In Nigeria, everything boils down to tribalism and religion. Corrupt leaders are always seen with in the company of church leaders who appear to be happy at their company. Olusegun Obasanjo was a regular at Pastor E.O Adeboye’s crusades at his Reedemed Camp, mounting the podium preaching about Godliness and all that. Now we know better; Obasanjo’s claims to piety has been shattered by numerous revelations and instead of hauling him back to jail where he rightly belongs, the present day government is busy involved in some immoral romance with him. Religion is really the opium of the masses especially in my beloved Nigeria, that is why a transport company that goes by the name “Ekene-dili Chukwu” Nigeria Ltd [praise be to God] will be defrauding passengers daily by providing rickety coaches that will break down half way into the journey after collecting huge sums as fares-of course, the coaches break down and the conniving drivers disappear, abandoning passengers to their fates! Religion corrupts everything; in this 21st century, the Catholic Church in Eastern Nigeria still forbids a marriage between a catholic lady and an “Anglican” man! The fear of the parents of the lady in question being barred from receiving the “holy communion” insures that parents stop their daughters from agreeing to such marriages. Can anybody give me any rational explanation to why this practice is still going on in this modern day Nigeria?
I have nothing against religious people; I subscribe to a practice of religion backed by the purest form of human rationality. My friends who try to “frighten” me with eternal hell fire and all that wishful wickedness should be rest assured that their claims and rants do not move me. Like Socrates, I believe that an unexamined life is not worth living, a life of pristine morality can be attained without any recourse to religion-in any form. We need practical solutions to the hydra-headed issues bugging down Nigeria, our dear country. Religion is an instrument of oppression and control, a wicked tool designed to keep the commons in a perpetual state of submission while the big men and thick madams maintain the status quo. I might change my opinion about religion and its stranglehold on Nigeria the moment we pray and every corrupt governor, National Assembly members, PDP cabals, rogue police officers, dodgy civil servant, 419 pastor/Imam, thieving bankers, fraudulent individual all drop dead! Yes! That would be the day, but until that day comes I am happy ignoring all calls to “repent” while working towards the attainment of a just society.

by Sahara Reporters