SHUT UP AND GET OFF THE ALTAR!!!
INTRODUCTION
I was born a Christian and have been all my life. I however became a member of the Living Faith AKA Winners Chapel since Jan 1st 1991 and oh what a glorious day it was. It was in the Frederick K.C Price Hall in the Church’s premises in Barnawa, Kaduna. I have been privileged to be beloved of the Church’s leadership and remain so to date. It’s a congregation that I love passionately and in which I have made some of the most wonderful friends I have in my life and a congregation that I will forever stand by.
But I DO NOT ACCEPT the Church’s (no longer) SUBTLE POLITICISZATION and its crass foray into the political field via the now overt manipulation of its ever gullible membership.
WHAT WAS SAID
A statement was recently widely reported and credited to the Head of our Congregation, the Bishop David Oyedepo, to the effect that we asked President Mohammadu Buhari to “Resign and get out of office”. Having not read of any rebuttal or withdrawal of this statement, I verily assume same to be true. My take is that this a political statement, not a spiritual one. There is a very big difference between the “table” and the “alter”. My opinions and statements herein therefore derive from the political and public affairs commentator point of view and most definitely NOT spiritual. For this reason, I say unequivocally, SHUT UP AND GET OFF THE ALTAR!!!
Now that I have gotten your (readers’) attention, especially not only the Pentecostals amongst us but the members of my immediate congregational family, before you start shouting sacrilege! Holy Ghost fire! (and voicing all manner of “spiritual profanities” if such a concept exists) against me, I urge you to read through. I may say a whole bunch of stuff here that you find incorrect or unacceptable, but they remain my perception and my opinion. I am entitled to them, just are you are to yours and our clergy are entitled to theirs. You don’t have to agree with mine, I don’t have to agree with yours. I most certainly DO NOT agree with the church on this issue.
Why do I dare make this write up? Simple. I believe there are quite a huge number of not only Christians generally but members of my congregation who agree with me, but just wont stand out or don’t have the nerve to stand out. I am not under any illusions as to the shock, amazement, abuses, castigation, curses and dissociations and unprintable names that will be meted out to me not only by members of my congregation but by a whole lot of other Christians out there. I couldn’t care less about any of that. I would however yield to superior well thought out arguments or opinions to the contrary of what I say herein if concretely and logically presented to me outlining where I am wrong or what in my treatise is wrong. I would gladly not only withdraw all or part of what I have written, but tender an unreserved apology. So please don’t come at me with emotion, misplaced religious bigotry or sanctimonious semantics.
Secondly, I DO NOT, as I said earlier, view the statement (“Resign and Get Out of Office”) as a “spiritual” statement. I see it as a political statement and therefore deserving of a commensurate response. If any pastor has a right to an opinion, so do I. If such a pastor chooses to go to press with or publish such an opinion, so do I.
Thirdly, there is a moral question. Every time you point one finger at somebody, at least three from you own hand are pointing back at you. If you must take the speck of dust out of somebody else’s eye, remove the one in your own eye first.
Fourthly, why me of all people? Well, why not me? What does anybody else have that I don’t have? What qualifies anybody else that doesn’t qualify me? If a Moslem were to write this piece, we will say the jihadists have come. We will say he has confirmed our worst fears. If a member of any other congregation wrote this piece, we would say it is inter-congregational jealousy!!!
Fifthly, when you dance with the masquerade in the market square, you will receive both the accolade and the jeer that is directed at the masquerade. Making a statement such as this automatically places you in the receiving line of differing opinions.
Finally, why has it taken me this long to respond? I have been searching my heart to be sure I wasn’t just being malicious or negatively opinionated. I had to come to terms with my motive which centrally is to let people who may share my opinion, no matter how few, that it is a valid opinion.
THE PENTECOSTAL MENTALITY
The Pentecostal assembly consistently and systematically indoctrinates (brainwash?) its congregation. From early birth (being “born again”), the new convert is made to go through a 1 week “believers’ foundation class” (at least this is what it is called in my congregation). Others have different names for it. I have heard it called “discipleship training program” in others.
By what ever name, the whole intent is to lay out for the new convert (and automatically inducted church member) the glorious vision of the church, which alternately means that of its founder and a whole bunch of other things, principal amongst which is how that you must NEVER question spiritual or church authority, how that everything coming from the alter is correct, and from the very beginning they get you hooked on tithing, offering and sacrifices. (Don’t even get me started on that). We do however also ground the new covert on the basics of righteous living and Godliness. So its not all as bad as I may seem to make it sound here.
These doctrines continue to recur throughout in regular church services and are re-enforced in the smallest gathering of the church in home cell fellowships.
Against this background, the new convert, and eventually, the congregation is primed and ready like a barren filed cleared and furrowed ready to accept whatever seed will be planted. Pastors call it “the engrafted word of God”. That is why members are continuously bombarded with all manner of calls for offerings, sacrificial offering, Isaac offering, prophets offerings, project seed…the list is countless…and dare I mention…your tithe, which is a sacrilege to touch, and we respond swiftly.
For me, all of these are ok. It keeps the church going and pays the salaries of its pastors and buys a new jet every so often for the leadership and builds ever bigger church auditoriums so that more people can worship therein at the same time and therefor expand the kingdom of God on earth…no we dare not call it the church’s congregation, after all, the more people you have in there, the more tithes and offerings and therefore the more blessed the church. It builds the universities that church members cant afford to attend and so on.
But it is my belief that the church crosses the line when it begins to create fear among its congregation, spread hate amongst gullible simple Christians, manipulating their minds into believing things that don’t exist and compelling them to vote in a particular direction!!! NO SIR.
My focus is on the fact that now that the church has gotten us all eating out of its “spiritual palms”, I think it is wrong to want to push it to the point of telling us who to vote for. For God’s sake you are already telling us who to marry and who not to marry. Where to look for a wife or husband, where to worship, where to pay our tithe (you dare not take it to another church), how to dress, and a whole list of things I can not mention here. But come on…who to vote for again??? That is taking it too far.
The Church’s foray into the political field is not for love or performance or call for any public spirited civic responsibility mindedness. It is simply that the church wants to extend its roll into controlling the lives of people but lacks the nerve to either encourage its membership into politics or even backing them up financially. The church WILL not sponsor you to be a governor or senator or president. No we wont. But we will drool and fawn over and around you the moment you become any of these things. Once we cannot get our way, we rain hell and damnation on whoever occupies the office that denies us what we want.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not a spokes person for this administration. I am not an official of this administration nor am I in any way a beneficiary of anything from this administration. God is my witness. When you see God, ask Him. He will tell you my boy Sam has no pecuniary benefits from this government. However, anybody who knows me up close and personal knows I am a die-hard supporter of this administration and unrepentantly so.
Has this administration goofed since inception? Oh my God…boy have they goofed!!! Have they made mistakes? Hell yes!!! In fact, sometimes I just want to knock our dear president’s head with a sledgehammer!!! I will be the first to admit that they have had their (more than fair) share of foibles, goofs and gaffs. But let he that is without sin cast the first stone. If you are an older member of this congregation then you must have heard the Bishop himself say how often he has gotten it wrong also.
I am however convinced that this administration is the best thing that has happened to this country in the last 20 years and I stand by that. I make no apologies for what I believe nor do I make any pretentions about my passion for this administration and my will and prayer for it to succeed despite very obvious and glaring challenges and failures. Moses made a whole lot of goofs and gaffs too while he was leading Israel out of Egypt. All leaders do (including church pastors!!!). You can take me to town for taking my position simply because I am biased and sympathetic to this government and you will probably be right. Again, I make no apologies for that.
Having established that….
Among the failures of this administration that the we have latched on to are the killings and apparent insecurity, and a perception of bad economic performance and seeming inability to address these issues.
It is on these two broad platforms that I would interrogate what the Bishop said. First of all let me reiterate, these issues are very real. There have been killings and they seem unabated or challenged. Secondly, the economy has had serious challenges and it will appear to the simpler mind that the government of the day has no answers to them.
KILLINGS
Let me start with the killings.
Murder is a crime like any other crime. Be it petty theft, kidnapping, corruption, fraud or even suicide!!! The ability of any society to control crime rests on the capacity of its police force. The capacity of a police force is measured not only in terms of numbers of personnel (boots on the ground) but also the quality of that force (training and indoctrination). Then there are the issues of tools for policing which will include transport, communication, finance and logistics. The failure of our policing institutions have not only been consistent over the last 20 years but I venture that it is also the collective failure of all Nigerians.
When we begin to recruit the appropriate number and best caliber persons and properly train officers and men of the Nigerian Police, crime will abate. (Please take time to visit any Nigeria Police College today!!!). When a typical divisional police station is made to look like the branch of a modern bank in Nigeria today, crime will abate. When every police officer in any divisional office has a proper desk and office space to work, crime will abate. When the police is not only adequately welfared but also provided with the logistic tools and technologies they need to perform their duties, crime will abate. In all of these, we have a collective responsibility in compelling our legislators to appropriate the necessary funding for all of these. Have we done that? Noooo!!! Has the church made any kind of public spirited effort to address this? Noooo!!! Have our church founders in their dozens made any strong spirited and concerted efforts to bring about the reforms needed in the police? Noooo!!! But we know how to vibrate when a Christian looses his life (albeit tragically) in a communal clash. Come on!!!!
Killings, any killing, whether by herdsmen or kidnappers or armed robbers or communal gunmen or terrorists is a crime and a better police force can deal with it. The killings didn’t start yesterday. Right from the maitatsine crises in the north east in the 80s, religious crisis in Kaduna and Kano during the 90s through the boko haram insurgency to the present killings attributed to gunmen and herdsmen, our recent history has been plagued by this monster.
Are they justifiable? NO!! The loss of any human life by whatever means (ether by the bombing of a terrorist, the bullets of a herdsman, by a plane crash or by being sick in the hospital or even by being knocked down by a commercial motor bike), is painful, regrettable and unnecessary. I am most definitely not justifying them.
Having established that, what has become sad however is that we the Christian community have lost our core Christian charity of valuing every human life. We have retired into ourselves and become ensconced only in our very narrow religious world. We have come to believe that the life of a Christian is superior to that of any body else. We do not weep when dozens of Muslims are murdered in a mosque. We did not weep when in Zamfara scores of Muslims were killed by rampaging herdsmen and gunmen. We did not weep when in Taraba (or was it Adamawa?) recently, gunmen killed dozens in a MOSQUE. But we vibrate in misplaced “righteous anger” when a Christian is killed. Come on!!!
Have we become so hypocritical that when Christians were massacred in a village church in Ozubulu in the south east recently, not a whimper was heard from us? But let some Christian(s) be killed in Plateau or Benue and we start raining down fire and brimstone. What are we implying? That a Christian is “more dead” if he is killed by a herdsman and “less dead” if he is killed by alleged drug dealers (who by the way may have been Christians)? That a Christian is less dead if he is killed by a fellow Christian (kidnapper or armed robber) but more dead if a herdsman or other religion kills him? That a Christian killed in a southern (Christian) state is less valuable and requires less anger than one killed in a northern (Moslem) state? How many of the victims of the Offa armed robbery were Christians? How many of the perpetrators were Christians? Come on!!!!!
We are all creatures of God Almighty. Every life (Christian, Moslem, traditionalist, atheist) is not only valuable to us all, but valuable unto Him that created it. We do not, irrespective of our faiths, have the right to value one human life more than the other simply on the basis of our faiths. Even if for nothing, let us (Christians) pretend to grief over every (non-Christian) life that is lost as a life we didn’t have the opportunity to convert!!! If we do not recognize or understand this, if we do not preach this with the same passion we preach prosperity or some imagined Islamic jihad, then we have missed it. We should SHUT UP AND GET OFF THE ALTAR!!!
There is no Islamic jihad anywhere. Boko haram is no respecter of faith. They have killed more Moslems than Christians. Herdsmen are not quarrelling with or deliberately targeting Christians. They are quarrelling with farmers and cattle rustlers. Sometimes the farmers are Moslems, as is the case in Zamfara. Sometimes the farmers are Christians, as is the case in Plateau or Benue (what I call a “coincidence of tragedy”). No Christian has been killed simply and only BECAUSE he is a Christian. No church has been converted to mosque. No civil servant has been fired because he is a Christian. None have been denied their promotion because they are Christians. No children have been barred from attending schools (even in the farthest north of this country) because they are Christians. None have been forced into the Islamic faith by any government anywhere (save for the terrorists who kidnapped our girls). Moslems have boycotted no Christian shop or business anywhere. No deliberate policy of government has been designed to clandestinely and systematically change the fortunes of Christians. And please don’t give me the CRK / IRK rhetoric. We must stop spreading hate and fear among the people!!!
Under the last administration, the killings did not abate. Boko Haram was so bold they bombed churches (more mosques were bombed by the way) as close as right here in Suleija. Did the Christian community vibrate? Noooo!!! Did we tell Jonathan to resign and get out of office? Noooo!!! Why didn’t we? He is “our kind”!!! We not only watched him slip by with that, we closeted him while his administration robbed this country blind.
This campaign against Buhari is not new. In the run up to the last election, we were bombarded by how he was going to Islamize Nigeria and how we were to vote for “our kind”. It has however taken on a brazen approach now. We are constantly bombarded from the alter with how we must all get our PVCs and how it is up to the Christian community to stop the coming Islamic jihad (which exists only in the warped imagination of church leadership). We never condemned the last administration. We closeted it and conveniently looked the other way.
THE ECONOMY
This is the second major area that the Church pretends to have the interest of the country at heart. To be sure, let me establish and accept the realities. The country is just crawling out of recession. There is a lot of suffering in the land. People are hungry. There is no money. I acknowledge this, I accept this reality and I wish it wasn’t so.
But the church seeks to blame this on the administration of the day and rile up the congregation into thinking this administration is the cause of their economic woes and disguise the church’s political agenda into an economic issue. Come on!!!
When has Nigeria ever had money? I recall as a young boy growing up in the police barracks in Kaduna (that’s right…my father was a police man) in the early 70s. There was a song by Victor Olaiya….”ilu le oo ko s’owo lode. Obrin kigbe okunrin k’igbe. ‘Kaluku l’on k’egbe owo…roughly translated…the country is hard there is no money. Women are crying and men are crying. Everybody is crying about money. That was in the 70s!!!!
Work your way down to the mid 80s. Do we remember Andrew the guy who wanted to check out of Nigeria because there was no money? By some strange and humorous twist of irony and time, Buhari was the Head of State then!!! Fast-forward to the early 90s, the Babangida years, when SAP (Structural Adjustment Program) saw the massive devaluation of Nigeria’s currency, IMF or no IMF loan debate and the biting economic recession that followed all of these. Fast-forward to Obasanjo’s administration when I think it was Eedris Abdulkareem (correct me if I am wrong) who sang “Nigeria Jaga Jaga”. Fast forward to today…Falzz singing “This is Nigeria”. WHEN HAS NIGERIA EVER HAD MONEY?
Sadly though, I will be the first to admit that things were a lot better yesterday than they are today. No doubt about that so lets not flog that issue. If however you think in just 3 years Buhari is the reason why it is so, then you have missed it. Even if Buhari decided on the day that he was sworn in that all he wants to do is ruin Nigeria’s economy and that his only purpose for coming into government is to run the economy down deliberately, HE CAN NOT DO IT IN 3 YEARS!!!!
Not even PDP is responsible for the downturn in Nigeria’s economy!!!! Noooo!!! At best we can blame PDP for having the best opportunity (16 years under one administrative umbrella) to correct the foundational problems with Nigeria’s economy and failing to do it. We can either attribute this failure to them refusing to do it because it benefited their profligate kleptomania or simply failing to do it for lack of political, administrative or economic sagacity. Even though I am a supporter of this administration, I have NEVER agreed with that over flogged rhetoric that PDP or the last government ruined the economy of this country. No they didn’t. They only had the best opportunity to fix it and failed to do so. The wanton corruption didn’t help matters either.
But we digress…what has all of this got to do with the church?
Churches don’t have factories. They don’t manufacture. They don’t have warehouses. They don’t buy and sell. They don’t own business enterprises (generally speaking…none that I know of anyway). They don’t do import/export business. They don’t own banks. They are not in oil and gas or telecoms. So where do the massive church auditoria come from? Where do the universities come from? Where do the primary and secondary schools come from? Where do the palatial houses come from? Where do the fancy cars and huge SUVs come from? Where do the private jets come from? Simple. From the collective tithes and the plethora of offerings of its members. (I am aware that church members also personally give such gifts to pastors though). The higher the physical head count of church members (local and or international), the more the aggregate offerings and tithes and resultantly, the bigger the purse to engage in all these wonderful expenditures!!!
Simple common sense therefore. When the economy is boisterous and the congregation is making money, tithes and offering will flow high. (remember that I had earlier said how that we are consistently and persistently badgered with these doctrines). That is when you will hear amazing testimonies of millions being made, houses being built, cars being bought etc etc etc. It got so that even if you didn’t have such a testimony, you made up one so that the congregation could see “the grace of God in your life”!!! You were made to believe if you were not prospering then something was wrong with your faith.
TOTALLY AND ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG WITH THIS. WE ALL WANT TO PROSPER AND GOD WANTS US TO ALSO.
Now here is the link, and you can hate me as much as you want to, but fault my argument if is wrong. There isn’t that much money flying around anymore!!! The testimonies are now less about financial breakthroughs and more of deliverance and spiritual awakening (which is what real chrisitianity is all about). Naturally, when the flow of money slows to a trickle, the church’s income stream is depleted. And please don’t preach me that sermon about how it is God that blesses the church. Of course it is God that blesses the church!!!! The church IS not the building. The church is not the auditorium. The church IS NOT the pastor. The church is THE PEOPLE!!! The church is ITS MEMBERS!!! I have been a Christian all my life (attended several night vigils and Sunday services and mid week services and home cell fellowships). I have never seen or experienced when Naira and Dollars started raining from heaven physically due to the extreme anointing of the pastor or the praise and worship leader. Members get blessed and they water back to the church. That is how it works.
As such, once the flow slows down to a trickle, it is time to rain fire and brimstone on whoever is responsible. So lets march to Aso Villa and tell Buhari to resign and get out of office!!!!. Or better still, lets concoct some Islamic jihad and tell the congregation we are under siege and point them in the direction of who is responsible for it and ask them to vote against. Lets tell them that change has failed and they should get out of office. Lets tell them that the reason why they are no longer buying cars, building houses etc is because of this monster. Therefore go and get your “correct authentic valid PVC” Sometimes I cant stop myself laughing!!!
Members of the congregation have been called upon to tithe themselves into oblivion. They have “project offering” themselves to stupor. The have “prophet offering” themselves into poverty. The have “sacrificial offering” themselves into rags. They have “Isaac offering” themselves into penury. From these offerings, we have built huge auditoria, universities and secondary schools and primary schools (and bought private jets too). Our children cannot afford to go to these schools because they are priced out of our reach!!!! Come on!!!!
I am not aware of any deliberate admission policy that gives concession to the children of members of the church whose tithes and offerings have been used to build these institutions. I sincerely hope that one exists and maybe it’s just me that is not aware of it. I am not aware of any scholarship program available for the children of indigent church members whose tithes and offerings have been used to build these institutions. I sincerely hope that one exists and maybe it’s just me that is not aware of it. I am not aware that any church member was offered a ride in any of these jets if we happen to run into them at the airport while we are about to fly to some destination. (You are probably in the “popular stand” of the airport while the Pastor or Bishop or G.O or Pope or Arch Bishop of the church is in the VIP Lounge and you can’t see him. No! Wait!!! He doesn’t even need to wait so he can’t even see you even if you are in the VIP Lounge also. He will go straight to the waiting jet and fly to where is going because he has a private jet. Bought, fuelled, and maintained with your tithes and offerings).
JOHN THE BAPTIST
We all recall the story of John The Baptist. Called of God, anointed of God and given a specific mission, to baptize people and prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah. Beheaded like a common criminal.
I recall very vividly in the Frederick K.C Price Hall in the Kaduna church how that we were taught that in spite of his (John the Baptist) anointing and being called of God and anointed by God to carry out a vision and a mission, John the Baptist was beheaded like a common criminal. I recall very vividly that we were taught that it was because he bypassed his mission and dabbled into the politics of Israel at the time and into the personal and domestic affairs of the house of Herod.
John the Baptist will still go to heaven. When he was beheaded, Angel Gabriel didn’t come down with the army of Heaven. No sir!!! But the lesson we were being given then was to abide by the calling where which we had been called. I recall very vividly it was during one of those numerous communal/religious crises in Kaduna at the time and we were justifying the Church’s role to be one of watchful prayers and non intervention.
What has happened to this message? Has God changed? Is God now a respecter of persons? John the Baptist was entitled to his personal proclivities about the political rulership of Israel. He missed his way when he made it his mission rather than abiding by his original calling. He lost his head. PERIOD!!!
Please don’t tell me that the Holy Spirit through the “servant of God” is leading us because he is telling us who to vote for and who not to vote for. If I catch you…!!!
Our Ministry has been called to “liberate the people from their suffering (poverty, sickness, disease, reconciliation to our Creator) through the preaching of the word of faith”. Jumping into the politics of the day and manipulating it to suit our personal proclivities IS NOT in tandem with this vision!!! Telling the congregation who they should vote or not vote for and manipulating their gentle believing (and sadly gullible) minds into the chosen political agenda of the church leadership has absolutely NOTHING to do with the original vision, has nothing to do with salvation and spiritual well being and is totally reprehensible!!!
MISSION TRACTION
I must make this very clear. Pastors, Bishops, GOs, Reverends, Popes, Arch Bishops, Prophets, Evangelists etc etc and whatever other names there are for them are men and women like you and me!!! (Elijah was a man of like passion). They scratch when they itch like you and me. The drink water when they thirst like you and me. They eat amala with ewedu and gbegiri when they are hungry like you and me. They are men of like passion like you and me. Therefore, they make mistakes like you and me. They make errors of judgment too. They have their personal and political proclivities like you and me. Do not deify them!!! Respect them (they are anointed of God). Appreciate them (its not easy to pastor a church!!!). Value them (they are your shepherds). Listen to them (they have wisdom). But they ARE NOT PERFECT!!! They are not right all the time. They have fears and concerns like you. They have their own problems and challenges too. They just wont tell you!!!
This may seem like a contradiction, but it is not. I have learnt in my Christian life to search all spirits and hold fast to that which is true. I do not swallow, hook, line and sinker, anything and everything that any pastor is saying from the alter simply because he is a pastor (and neither should you), and this is one such instance that I refuse to be led by the nose.
If you want to hate Buhari, please go ahead and hate him. But not because somebody told you to hate him!!! If you want to vote for him go ahead and vote for him. Not because somebody told you to. If you don’t want to vote for him, by all means don’t. Not because somebody or some pastor or some Bishop told you not to. Open your mind. Open your eyes. Make your own decision. God WILL NOT send somebody to tell you who to vote for. He will rather send somebody to guide you in living a righteous life but certainly not who to vote for. Not even Jesus Christ told Herod how to govern Israel!!!
There is a place for the Clergy in any society. They are the voice of caution and conscience. They reconcile man to God in our spiritual relationship with God. It wasn’t a prophet that told Nebuchadnezzar his days were numbered. It was God himself!!! The language of the clergy must always be decorous and encouraging. Not given to rancor and unproductive display of anger and displeasure. I do not agree with the language or mode of expression employed in this instance. Except of course if it was quoted wrongly.
At a time when nations are challenged and there is anger in the land, part of the cardinal function and responsibility of the Clergy is to soothe injuries. To calm frayed nerves. To provide succor. To preach words that encourage and strengthen the hearts of people. It is most certainly NOT to engage in hate messages and worsening the anxieties and fears of an already high strung people.
The leading faith based leaders of this country have unfettered access to the President. They can and indeed have conveyed to him their fears, concerns and displeasure on a number of issues. The Clergy is entitled to their opinion too. They have 1 voting card like everybody else. They are free to cast it wherever and for whom so ever they wish. They are entitled to an opinion like everybody else. They are even free to canvass votes for their chosen candidates.
What I continue to emphasize and what I will forever insist on is that they do not have the right to do that in church or from the alter of God or in the congregation of worshippers in the mosque. If so, then I can start manipulating my staff or even my children along a particular political direction.
I can not and will not be judge over anybody. I recall very vividly how we were told in very clear terms that our children will NEVER be in this ministry and that they were not called. This for me is a contradiction. God does not discuss with any third party who he wishes to call or not call.
If our children have been called, were they called into this particular Ministry? Why can’t they go and found their own churches and pursue their own ministries? Why are they now pastors in the same church? Are we grooming the next generation for whom the “empire” has been prepared? Is the church an empire in perpetuity?
For me, these are pretentious issue that rob us of the moral right to tell Buhari to resign and get out of office. And please don’t tell me things of the spirit are of the spirit and things that are carnal are carnal and all that dribble. I know when someone is peeing on my back. Its not rain.
KNOWLEDGE
The only reason that the Bible records for why people perish is “lack of knowledge”. They don’t perish because they didn’t pay tithe. They don’t perish because they didn’t give offering. They don’t perish because they committed sin. They don’t perish because they abused pastor. They don’t perish because they are not serving in the church. They don’t perish because they didn’t come for fellowship. They perish for lack of knowledge. You will naturally say if they have knowledge about all of those issues, they wont fall short of them. VERY TRUE. But that is where it ends. We must also have the knowledge to question the things we do not understand or agree with or interrogate issues that don’t add up.
I am therefore appealing to the entire Christian population. Someday, a Christian will ask the people of this country to vote for him to be president. The xenophobic seeds we sow today will come back to haunt us tomorrow. At best whether Buhari wins the next election or not, a Muslim northerner will still be president for another 4 years and it will be the turn of the South. More than likely, it may be a southern Christian that will ask the people of this country to vote for him. Let us not think that the northern Muslims will very easily forget the way we hounded one of their own (unjustifiably if I may add).
The reality of our country today is that we live together in all imaginable religions but are united in the hunger of our stomachs and our concerns for tomorrow. A Christian doesn’t need only one mudu of garri to feed on for a week while a Muslim or traditionalist or atheists needs only half. The price of garri is not higher or lower for a Christian or Moslem in the market. Your vulcanizer will not charge you less to pump your tires because you are a Christian and charge a Moslem more. A Christian will not bleed more or less when slashed with a razor blade any differently from a Moslem. To therefore create hate where none exists or create fear of what does not exist is unacceptable. For the church to use the instrument of the alter to pursue this very wrong agenda is once again very reprehensible.
I am as Christian as anybody else is. I am as saved as anybody else is. I am as sanctified by the blood of Jesus Christ as anybody else is, but THIS IS WRONG!!!
Hate begets hate. We must not continue on this path. Sadly, nothing makes us Christians feel more “Christianly” than persecution. Where no persecution exists, we will invent one just to make ourselves feel more “Christian” or more holy. Do not let anybody deceive you. There is no jihad anywhere. There is no islamization anywhere. The next time any pastor stands up to push that agenda to you, tell him to SHUT UP AND GET OFF THE ALTAR!!!
I have severally acknowledged that times are hard and certainly Nigerians are suffering. I have conceded that the killings are worrisome and the apparent ease with which it is being perpetrated is worrisome. I have not been blind to these issues. I have however insisted that they are a reflection of years of failure and endemic collapse of our national values and institutions. I have even refrained from blaming the last administration, as this government is wont to do. I have refused to accept the rhetoric that the last government is responsible for where we are today. But I also refuse to accept that this government is either.
I do however insist that we are on the right path of reversal of this sad trend and also on the path of sustainable development.
God promised the people of Israel freedom from Egypt. He promised them Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey. He promised them a deliverer. He fulfilled all of His promise to Israel. God CAN NEVER LIE or not keep His Covenant. He however NEVER said the journey from Egypt to Canaan would be easy!!!
It got to a point when Israel wanted to go back to Egypt. They even made unto themselves graven image and forgot their God. Are there no graves in Egypt that you have brought us here to die they said to Moses. Lets us therefore go back to Egypt where we had salad and isi ewu and fried rice with plantain and chicken peri peri, amala with ewedu and gbegiri populated with orishirishi instead of this manna we are eating, they said.
Going back to the path we were on before will be the most disastrous thing this country can do!!!
As long Israel stayed on the path. As long as they weathered the desert. As long as they confronted and crossed their red seas. As long as they confronted brought down their Jericho walls. As long as they continued in spite of the hunger and the thirst, they eventually made it to Canaan. God promised Sarah a child even in her old age, but God didn’t say she won’t have labour pains. Where this country needs to go and where it is surely headed now, we will get to, but we wont get there without some discomfort. They may come in a plethora of forms. Hunger. Thirst. Discomfort and (God forbid) loss of loved ones in communal clashes or wanton killings and so on. But it is bigger than Buhari. His biggest success (if at all) can only be to set us on that path. He probably wont even get there with us. Moses didn’t enter Canaan either.
CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion.
It is righteousness that exalts a nation. NOT religion. Not Christianity. Not Islam. Not prayers. Not fasting. Not night vigils. Not tithes. Not offerings. Not Zakaat. Not big church auditoriums. Not churches with large membership. And certainly not the wanton vituperations of any pastor, imam or religious scholar. It is only righteousness that lifts a nation. To say or preach therefore that it is the church that will lift the country out of its morass is total rubbish. This is the kind of “feel good” preaching that sends us Christians into a sanctimonious tailspin. Somehow, we have come to believe that only us can be righteous. Therefore, only us can “save” the nation.
China is perhaps the greatest economy in the world today. Followed arguably by The US, Russia, and then countries in Europe and South East Asia. I can swear to you none of these countries are anywhere near as “religious” as Nigeria!!! But they are righteous!!!.
There is more corruption in any one randomly selected local government here in Nigeria than there is in the whole of China, with almost 1.4b people and a land mass several times the size of Nigeria.
The dictionary defines righteousness as the “quality of being morally right or justifiable”. The same dictionary provides synonyms to be probity, decency, integrity, uprightness, rectitude, virtuousness, morality, worthiness and so on. These virtues have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with religion. Our forefathers in the village had a good sense of what was right or wrong. They were morally upright and just. Long before the advent of Islam or Christianity. They were decent people. They would not go into another person’s farm or sleep with another person’s wife or steal or bear false witness. They were not murders or killers. They were not fornicators or homosexuals. Not all of them were IDOL WORSHIPERS!!!! That’s right. I said it!!!
Some of the most decent God fearing righteous men and women of impeccable character and integrity that I have had the privilege to meet and be friends with in my life are Moslems. Some don’t even believe in God!!! I have also met some very terrible Moslems too. Some of the most treacherous, conniving, two faced, hypocritical devils I have met in my life are Christians. Yet some of the most wonderful God fearing and righteous people in my life are Christians too. It’s the person that is bad. NOT the religion. If herdsmen are killing people, its not because they are Moslems. Its because they are bad people. The gunmen that killed worshippers in Ozubulu church were not Moslems. They were not herdsmen. They were just bad people. The herdsmen that killed people in Jos didn’t do that because they are Moslems and wanted to kill Christians. They are just bad people.
I know a lot of blue blooded fulanis who are not only Christians but members of my congregation!!! (If any of them are reading this, they know themselves). Some of them are my very good friends. A couple of them are MY CLOSE FAMILY FRIENDS. For crying out loud, how do you think they feel when we send out such hurtful messages?
Don’t even get me started on this purported letter written to us telling us that Nigeria belongs to them and they are going to take it over!!! That is the most laughable one yet!!!.
Let us just take a minute to interrogate this.
1. If this letter is important enough to warrant all the fiery messages and preaching, it is equally important enough for us to see. We get our weekly, monthly and yearly prophetic cover through our weekly Sunday service or monthly or yearly bulletins. Why hasn’t a copy been printed and distributed to us so our anger and prayers can be reinforced? Indeed, why hasn’t it been sent to the mainstream news media for publication for ALL NIGERIANS AND THE WHOLE WORLD to see??? (EXCEPT OF COURSE IF THIS HAS BEEN DONE AND I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO HASN’T SEEN IT!!!)
2. Why haven’t we sent a copy of the letter to the United Nations to seek for their intervention against and on coming pogrom?
3. Why was the letter sent only to us? Why not to the Oba of Benin, the El Kanemi of Borno, the Ooni of Ife, the Olubadan of Ibadan, the Ohinoyi of Ebira and so on who are the traditional guardians and protectors of ancestral lands all over the country? If the jihadists want to collect the whole of Nigeria, is it from us they are going to collect it? Are we the custodian of Nigeria? Is the C of O of Nigeria in our care or custody?
4. If they want to collect Nigeria from Christians, why didn’t they send the same letter to the heads of other congregations? Why didn’t they send to Arch Bishop Olubunmi Okogie of the Catholic Church or Arch Bishop Onaiyekan of the Anglican Communion? Why didn’t they send it to the GO of the Redeemed Christian Church? Why didn’t they send it to the Baba Aladura of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church? What about the ECWA and the Apostolic? WHY US??? Why not to CAN or to PFN? Except of course if all these other persons (and more) received the same letter and decided not to talk about it or vibrate about it as much for whatever their reasons may be. That remains to be seen.
5. Have we reported to the relevant authorities? That is what responsible people or corporate organizations do. Except of course if we have become a law unto ourselves. If we have reported it to the relevant security agencies, have we followed up on it?
6. There is a common sense forensic dimension to this also that even a simpleton can discern:
a) Letters don’t write themselves. Somebody wrote and signed it. Have we queried or requested for all national data bases to be queried for us to identify who wrote it? (National ID Card. National Voters Register. Bank BVN. Drivers License. International Passport etc).
b) Was it on a letter headed paper, and if so, what organization? Have we done a search in CAC to know which organization and who their heads are?
c) How was it delivered? By DHL (or other courier)? If so, from which DHL office or branch and who signed the airway bill?
d) If it was sent by post, through which post office and what is the time stamp on it?
e) Was it delivered by hand, if so, who delivered it? Who gave it to him and who gave it to that one?
Cattle herding is a profession and a damn good one too!!! Think about it…9 out of every 10 heads of cattle consumed in this country are produced by these people we are being asked to hate!!!! These wonderful enterprising, hard working and talented people we are being asked to hate produce that bokoto or cow tail or shaki you are eating right now or that you had for lunch yesterday or that you plan to have for dinner tonight. The Fulani herdsmen have not stopped anybody else from raising cattle. They have not stopped you from carrying 100-200 heads of cattle with your stick and pastoraling them from Lagos to Burkina Faso, just as the Ibos have not stopped anybody else from their exceptional savvy of trading and commerce nor have the yorubas stopped anybody else from growing kolanut, timber, cocoa or several other agrarian and academic prowess and savvy in which they have excelled. I could go on and on. The sky is big enough for every star to shine.
Just like lawyers, tailors, doctors, soldiers, pilots, policemen, vulcanizers, pastors, imams etc, cattle herdsmen are professionals too. There are criminal lawyers. There are criminal doctors. There are criminal tailors. There are criminal vulcanizers. There are criminal pastors (go and ask who is Rev. King). There are criminal imams and so on and so forth. As such, there are criminal herdsmen. The killings being attributed to herdsmen are being perpetrated by the criminals amongst them. The profession IS NOT the criminal. The tribe IS NOT the criminal. The race IS NOT the criminal. The religion IS NOT the criminal. The PERSON is the criminal. The INDIVIDUAL is the criminal.
To seek to label all herdsmen as evil gun toting, murderous jihadist group of people is wrong. What is even more wrong and offensive is to perpetrate a xenophobic hatred for them and create fear of a non-existent Islamic jihad, and on the basis of that, seek to manipulate God’s people into an electioneering frenzy.
Not every Ibo man or woman is a spare part dealer or member of IPOB. Not every Yoruba man or woman is a cocoa farmer or a member of OPC (OPC is even far more benign). Not every Fulani is either a herdsman or a jihadist. Not every herdsman is a killer.
Fulanis and herdsmen have been in every nook and cranny of Nigeria for almost 10 decades!!! (As have members of various other tribes and creeds and professions). They have lived peacefully with their host communities for decades. Their presence in these locations predates Buhari’s presidency. The President didn’t suddenly plant them there in the last 3 years, nor did he concoct a plan to Islamize Nigeria through some far fetched jihadist adventure more than 25 years ago when he was head of state, having known since then that he was going to someday in future be the civilian president of Nigeria. Come on!!!!
And so I say once again to all. Like whichever candidate you want to like. Hate whichever candidate you want to hate. Vote for whichever candidate you want to vote for. Vote against whichever candidate you want to vote against. BUT DON’T DO IT BECAUSE SOME PASTOR OR BISHOP OR MALLAM OR IMAM OR BABALAWO TOLD YOU SO. Do it because you have opened you eyes and evaluated things dispassionately by YOURSELF. For crying out loud, I don’t even tell my wife or children who they should vote or not vote for!!! Don’t forget: You Have The Mind of Christ!!!
When next you see or hear them coming with this hate rhetoric, tell them to: SHUT UP AND GET OFF THE ALTAR!!!
(DR) SAM O. BRAIMOH
ABUJA
