I
am going to begin this piece with a chance encounter I had with the
leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria in the late 1990s.
That experience will provide a background into appreciating the
historical role of CAN leadership in the fight for social justice,
promotion of good governance and the quest for an egalitarian society in
Nigeria.
It
is also illustrative of the leadership degeneration that afflicts the
present leaders of the apex Christian body —a tragic lesson in why
politics and religion should always form a parallel line. It was in the
thick of military dictatorship. Gen. Sani Abacha, Nigeria’s maximum
ruler, was at the height of his tyrannical powers. Having toppled the
Interim National Government of Ernest Shonekan in a palace coup in 1993,
Abacha had become very ruthless and vicious of any opposition to his
regime. He had also become paranoid of every criticism and his plan to
transmute into a life president. He unleashed his killer squad on
dissenting voices.
The media and civil society
critical of his devious plan ended up in his gulag. Leading opposition
figures were being assassinated. Journalists disappeared with no traces.
The Abacha regime was a dark period in Nigeria’s history. As the
opposition grew, Abacha became more brutal. Among the fiercest critics
of the regime, one voice stood out—Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie. The
Catholic priest became the symbol of the struggle to enthrone democracy
in the country. He led other Christian leaders to advise Abacha not to
succeed himself. Before this time, he had criticised the draconian
policies of the Ibrahim Babangida regime. He never wavered. He was
fearless. It was at the point of his fierce opposition to the government
of Abacha that I ran into the unassuming priest, arguably a living
symbol of true Christian values devoid of the debauchery and
ostentations of modern day “men of God.”
I had run into him at
the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos having crossed the road in his white
cassock and trekked all the way through the TBS unaccompanied. He
exchanged pleasantries, and prayed for some people along the way. At the
time, he was the President of CAN. At a time when Nigerians had
expressed fear that his criticism of Abacha might constitute a danger to
his life, Okogie resisted all attempts to provide him with security. He
once addressed a press conference where he condemned Abacha and the
entire military. He urged them to begin a transition programme that
would return the country to democracy. He was a thorn in the flesh of
bad leaders. He condemned corruption and stayed away from politics and
politicians. He never mixed his religion with politics. Okogie helped to
redefine the role and relevance of the clergy in the quest for an
egalitarian society.
At critical moments in our nation’s
history, the leadership of CAN has stood against injustice, corruption
and bad governance. Under the leadership of Reverend Sunday Mbang,
Archbishop Peter Jasper Akinola and Cardinal John Onaiyekan, the
organisation became the voice of the masses no matter their faith.
During former President Olusegun Obasanjo government, Onaiyekan, who was
CAN president, continued the activism of CAN. He stood against
Obasanjo’s Third Term agenda. His successor, Akinola once denounced the
corruption in Obasanjo government at the National Christian Centre.
Obasanjo was right there in the audience. The history of CAN as the
moral conscience of our nation has long been established. The ‘80s and
‘90s were the defining periods in Nigerian history. The CAN leadership
under Mbang and Okogie stood as leaders who used their moral authorities
for the emancipation of Nigerians. Sadly, this is no longer the case
today as CAN under the leadership of Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor has become
overtly politicised. To many observers, the once united CAN, the bastion
of hope, the voice of the voiceless in Nigeria, has become another arm
of government. It no longer speaks with one voice against corruption.
If
we must call a spade by its name, Oritsejafor has been a polarising,
instead of unifying, figure in the body leading an entire block-the
Catholics-to pull out from CAN. Is this the CAN we used to know, many
are wont to ask? Certainly, this is not the CAN of Okogie and other
clerics who laid the foundations of the body as a critical advocate of
our collective rights. CAN leadership’s dalliances with politicians in
recent years have blunted its powers to speak truth to power at a time
the country is in need of prophets.
It is instructive that
Oritsejafor, since his assumption of office, has always been in the news
for the wrong reasons. First, it was the controversy that surrounded
the gift of a private jet to him by a shadowy “church member” that
shocked Nigerians. Historically, the leadership of CAN has been a
unifying force. In the past, the body had been the bridge between
Christians and Muslims promoting inter-faith dialogue necessary for
peaceful co-existence. But, the current CAN has stoked more
controversies than the promotion of peace. Rather than follow the
tradition of his predecessors, CAN President hobnobs with politicians.
It is therefore not unexpected that the CAN president’s private jet is
now enmeshed in a cash-for-arms deal scandal in South Africa. Truth be
told, the cash-for-arms scandal is an embarrassment to the Christian
community in Nigeria. It’s even worse that Oritsejafor’s name was
mentioned in the first place. Why must it be the CAN president — a man
who should be the symbol of Christian values devoid of scandals
injurious to his faith and position?
I think that the Christian
Association of Nigeria is in great need of the prophets of old who led
the organisation on the part of respectability. Those who equate
sweating and laughter with anointing leading millions further down the
road of deception and delusion. Instead, we need men in Christian
leadership who will stand on the side of the masses and speak truth to
power.
Our country needs men of vision who are not selling out
the church so they can become celebrities in the religious conference
tour in the guise of evangelisation. We need men of proven integrity;
not the ones who brazenly tell us to pray for our leaders so they can
continue to wine and dine them. The current crisis in CAN has further
necessitated the imperative of ensuring that the church and the state
are separated. At this critical point in our nation’s history, solutions
to complex issues like corruption, poverty, health care and growing
insecurity will require greater vision than what is currently possessed
by those in power and those seeking to replace them. That is why CAN
must revert to its traditional role as the nation’s watchdog. The action
of its current leadership brings the once revered association into
disrepute.
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