By now, Reverend Father Ejike Camillus Mbaka needs no introduction to every follower of current happenings in Nigeria but if you have not been following the debate occasioned by Mbaka’s sermon at Adoration Ground, Enugu on December 31, 2014, a little profile of the priest at this point would be most apposite.
Mbaka was ordained a Catholic priest in Enugu Diocese in the 1990s. He is one of Catholic Charismatic priests whose Priestley call delivers people bondage of the evil one and preach the kingdom of God to all man. Mbaka is also the Spiritual Director of Adoration Ministry Enugu, Nigeria (AMEN).
Unarguably, Mbaka is a religious leader with abundant milk of human kindness running through his veins and arteries; thus, as he preaches the gospel of salvation to his congregants, he garnish it with holding socio-political and religious leaders foot to “fire” so that they would be alive to responsibility and be committed to putting Nigeria on the path of rectitude, greatness and El dorado.
But you can trust that the truth is one thing a typical Nigerian leader seldom. And that explains the sponsored controversies, bad blood, envy and hypocrisy trailing Mbaka’s homily on December 31. In all these, an objective mind can easily see an orchestrated attempt to “de-market,” if not sink, Mbaka from all angles.
Indeed, I am not unaware that some school of thought think that the presidency is behind the troubles and media war Mbaka is facing at the moment, while I agree that some elements in Aso Rock that have some scores to settle with Mbaka can do almost everything to stain his name and get President Goodluck Jonathan re-elected next month, I cannot ignore the fact that some characters whose Mbaka’s sermon had come to as a poisonous bitter pill see this as a golden opportunity to take their “pound of flesh” from the fiery Catholic priest of Enugu State.
Moreso, if one follows diligently and critically the views, opinions and input emanating from most commentators on the issue under debate, one can clearly and easily read unhealthful bickering against the Catholic Church by other Christian denominations; one would also isolate raw politics, victimisation, hypocrisy unlimited, jealousy, rumour mongering, crass hatred, envy, religious mercantilism and “pull him down syndrome” at play.
For me, it insults logic that numerous commentators would identify “double standard” and our “God is not the author of confusion” as the main issues with Mbaka’s talk even as they indirectly market a presidential candidate who appears electorally disadvantaged in the South East on the strength Mbaka’s sermon.
In a way, I find it worrisome that as the hullabaloo continues to trail Mbaka’s sermon, no concern is being placed on his revelation to the effect that his life is in danger since he made the talk which challenges President Jonathan’s re-election bid.
However, we must note that the life of every Nigerian is important. And by our constitutional dictates, it is the job of the Federal Government to secure all Nigerians most especially those whose life is seriously threatened by their fellow citizens or carelessness of the government.
So, Mbaka needs water-tight security now; the Nigerian Police and DSS must stand up and protect him least the sons and daughters of abyss waste his life before we can say “Jack.”
At this juncture, permit me to make a comment: I have come to hold that in public discourse all forms of prejudices must be stated and points logically, accurately and truthfully marshalled. It is in that light that I need to state that I have siblings and relations who are staunch members of Mbaka’s Adoration Ministry. Thus, I have access and listen to Mbaka’s messages, songs and devotional materials.
As I observed above, I find it strange that some Christians and their leaders have accused Mbaka of “double standard” and “lying” in the name of God because he delivered two seemingly contradicting messages in a space of one month. And the question: “is our God the author of confusion?”
The answer is a capital NO. And it is important to affirm that the two messages of Mbaka which are today being blown out of proportion by alarmists and political spin doctors are mutually in agreement. A peep into the Holy Book of 2 Samuel 7: 3-17 will serve as our compass here.
The Bible says Prophet Nathan while answering King David’s enquiry of his intention to build a place of worship for the Lord said: “Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the Lord is with thee.” But later that night, God charged Nathan thus: “Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? …And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.”
Furthermore, in 2 Kings 20: 1-6, God directed Prophet Isaiah to go and withdraw his earlier decree of death of King Hezekiah and announce more 15 years to the King’s life.
However, I am not by any imagination arguing that President Jonathan is going to win or lose his re-election bid by this position as Mbaka’s sermon had been mis-interpreted. I am more inclined in elevating two biblical cases where the prophets of God had to deliver two messages which are not in agreement but the bottomline is that they were delivering God’s position to man.
Beyond that what should agitate our minds is the truism of Mbaka’s assertion vis a vis the medium. And in this case, the medium and the messages of Mbaka are unassailable given the biblical background we have established above and current happenings in the nation.
The urge which should bother us is how do we rescue the ship of the nation from veering into the lagoon as Mbaka warned in his recent messages.
Indeed insecurity and local terrorism are two grave twins threatening to kill the state of Nigeria today; since the Nigerian Civil War ended, I am not sure there had ever been a time insurgents and terrorists daily bombed, maimed and killed Nigerians and annexed Nigerian territories as we are witnessing under Jonathan’s presidency.
It will also be sheer “black magic” that our expanded economy has not added any tangible to the life of the average Nigerian. Poverty is still at its peak, hunger is abusing the dignity of our people; portable water is a luxury, unemployment rides the crest and the glaring inequality which has become our economic trademark is still growing by every second in Nigeria.
Even with all the massive investment government claimed to have made in the power sector, we are yet to achieve stable power supply which is the precursor of industrialisation, security and poverty eradication.
Similarly, Naira is still falling; corruption is getting more fierce by the day. And our President seems to be out of ideas of how to ram out corruption or reduce it so that government money can be used to work for our people.
It is a known fact that we harbour the worst infrastructure in the world. Our roads are bad; the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway Mbaka mentioned in his message is a model of death trap. The education sector is in shambles and the economy is in ruins but recurrent expenditure is ever increasing everyday.
For me, the state of Nigeria today is a product of failed leadership as Mbaka rightly observed and justified by President Jonathan’s campaign speech in Lagos last Thursday, January 8, 2015 although I make bold to add that we have also failed on our part as good followers. There is definitely no two ways about it: poor followership breed poor leadership. In advanced societies, poor leadership hardly emerge because the followers are always there to guide against leadership failure and serve as the conscience of the nation.
As Mbaka said in his “controversial” sermon, “We need change… Nigeria is like an egg about to break… and we cannot allow it to happen. Nigeria must survive what we are passing through by the help of God,” we need change in Nigeria but change can only come from realignment of the mind and even from the same man whose administration is at the centre of the mess we are despising today. So, it is preposterous to assume that change in the leadership of the nation must come by way of change in the man and party in government. In reality, a changed heart comes with positive changes in any country
Finally Mbaka is not the trouble with Nigeria as political spinners would want to have us believe and President Jonathan did not put Nigeria in this unfortunate situation we face today. But as a priest, Mbaka reserves the prerogative to serve as the watchman of the people against societal ruination as the prophets of the old did in the Bible.
And as the President of Nigeria, Jonathan was elected to bring solutions to our problems and challenges as other presidents do elsewhere; he was not elected to dish out excuses for government consistent failures. So he must pull his sleeves and go into the field working for the betterment and upliftment of Nigeria and Nigerians. And if by any stretch of imagination, he or the led feel he cannot continue to do his presidential job creditably, the only option open to him is to resign for the country to move forward
Okafor. C. Udoka writes from Aba
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