Would it not have been much better if the Lord Jesus Christ, the founder of the Christian religion and savior of humanity had been born a Nigerian rather than a Jew? ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness”, Jesus admonished his followers, “and everything will be added unto you”. But if Jesus was a Nigerian, he would have the street wisdom to enable his adherents enjoy to the fullest both the kingdom of this world and the blessings of the world to come – a win –win situation for all. If Christ was a Nigerian, he would have said something like this: “Seek ye first the kingdom of private jets, palatial mansions, exotic four wheel drives, lucrative oil blocs, multi-billion private university enterprises, companionship of the high and mighty of this world and every other thing will be added unto you both in this world and that which is to come”. A Nigerian Christ would have found a workable compromise between the Kingdom of darkness and that of light. He would have urged us all to give unto Caesar what is God’s and give unto God what is Caesar’s and there would have been eternal peace between good and evil world without end, Amen. Can you imagine John the Baptist being foolish enough to have his head cut off for speaking truth to power if he was a Nigerian? No, he would have blessed the unholy matrimony between Herod and his brother’s wife, invoked divine blessings on them and gone on to spend the rest of his days in splendor and prosperity while fulfilling his God ordained mission on earth.
What came double crossing my mind was the interest Pastor Ayodele Joseph Oritsejafor and President Gudluck Jonathan shared in common and the common opinion they both are trying to protect. Mostly on all issues concerning this nation, what Mr Jonathan said will be that of Pastor Oritsejafor especially on the amnesty offer to Boko Haram insurgents, which will be totally incomparable with the words of Bishop Hassan Kukah who is truly a man of God. Are Pastor Oritsejafor and Bishop Kukah not protecting the kingdom of the same God? If they do, then Pastor Oritsejafor must be a politician not a true man of Christ. Pastor Oritsejafor simply does not know what he is talking about and doesn't care to know as long as it goes head to head with that of Mr Jonathan not with a fear of whoever might feel upset since his oga at the top is still in control.
Prior to his election as the President of Nigerian Christian body in july 2010, Pastor Oritsejafor was truly a man of integrity and wisdom. He founded the word of life Bible church in Delta state, he used to be a courageous servant of Jesus Christ and a man of God. But unfortunately,he dived into national politics for some selfish desires deriving him a huge lost of respect and personality. Turning him more of a politician than a leader in God's ministry. Since his appointment as CAN president, Nigerian Christian association began facing backwardness and rising problematic issues as a result of weak leadership which lead to the Catholic Churches pulling out from CAN for lack of trust and justice under his leadership.
On issues regarding this nation, with the JTF and Boko Haram insurgents at gun point across mostly all northern states in the federation, lives of the citizenry mostly in northern region are not guaranteed and the protection of their properties are at stake. With all this and more, the northern elders on their part searching for peace to reign in the north proposed an amnesty to be offered for Boko Haram fighters thinking it may end the bloodshed across the region, seeing as it was done to Niger Delta militants under Late president Umar Yer'adua amnesty program and the result it yielded. First, the Sultan of Sokoto Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar III solicited the Federal Government's support toward achieving this desire. An hour after his request, Pastor Oritsejafor strongly aired his views opposing the amnesty program saying those asking for it are behind the masks of Boko Haram and all the atrocities they committed emphasizing the use of force in curtailing the situation. Pastor Oritsejafor further stressed that those seeking amnesty are those having hands in the insurgency saying that if amnesty is giving, they may go unpunished. That Boko Haram are ghosts with no definite identity, those asking for amnesty are airing the views of Boko Haram which shows they knew them and they live together sharing common ideas. What Pastor Oritsejafor failed to point out here was the solution in ending the insurgency taking the lives of both Muslims and Christians on daily basis but stand on the use of military forces which is been used for years without yielding any good results as of today. This shows how Pastor Oritsejafor lack any sense of conflict resolution but went on opposing those with atleast a little idea on how crisis can be resolved.
I remembered On the 8th of March 2013. President Jonathan visited the most affected states of Yobe and Borno for the first time under his rule since the beginning of Boko Haram crisis many years back. The two states where under an intense tied security condition with soldiers and military armored trucks in virtually all corners in the states. A security condition that is expected to be in any peace troubled environment but this time, is just for the purpose of Mr President's visit after which the whole states will be left unprotected by this armed personnels who were deployed just to safeguard the President. The two states were under a 24hours curfew starting before Mr President's arrival and end on his departure. I wonder is Mr Jonathan going to Borno and Yobe to see the people affected by this crisis or he is going to an empty state and ascertain the damages they suffered and the properties lost? Many criticized Mr president for lack of pity toward the people of Borno and Yobe states imprisoning them indoors denying them the opportunity to go about their normal activities since his visit is not gonna add any relief to their sufferings. President Jonathan holds a town hall meeting with elders in the states who pleaded his government to grant amnesty to Boko Haram fighters for peace to reign in the region. What came to my greatest surprise was how Mr President responded to their demand saying his government will not grant amnesty to ghosts, if they want amnesty they should fished out those behind collapse of peace and show their faces. Meaning they should expose the fighters since they knew them. Mr Jonathan perfectly repeated the words of Pastor Oritsejafor as if his speech was mistakenly replaced with Oritsejafor's own. I said is Mr Jonathan's speech written by Pastor Oritsejafor? Or they both shared common opinion?
As the pressure to grant amnesty to Boko Haram fighters mounted on Mr Jonathan's shoulder increases, with calls from all sections of peace loving Nigerians, many Nigerians Pastors and the international communities. Mr President purportedly agreed and call on the fighters to embrace the amnesty offer after setting up committee to mediate into the amnesty program. As mostly all Nigerians welcomed the progress with jubilation, Pastor Oritsejafor is still calling on the Federal Government to denounce it intention of granting amnesty to this fighters and saying it's evil to forgive them. What signals Mr Oritsejafor's victory on amnesty collapse, was the gun battle JTF are engaging Boko Haram fighters day and night without any restricting order from the government directing th JTF to stop fire even after the fighters has said they are ready to ceasefire and accept peace. A typical scenario was the atrocity committed by government forces in Baga (a bordering town in Borno State) two days ago, where JTF killed almost every living thing and burnt down all the standing structure in the town. Official figures shows more than 185 civilians are killed and properties worth millions are destroyed. Is this the type of dialogue Nigerians government are engaging the Boko Haram fighters in? Or is Pastor Oritsejafor's opposition to amnesty is President Jonathan's unexpressed desire?
Only recently, Pastor Oritsejafor justly celebrated his 40th year on the pulpit. President Goodluck Jonathan personally graced the occasion – an indication of Pastor Oritsejafor’s standing in the kingdom of this world. President Jonathan on that occasion considered it noteworthy that Oritsejafor was President both of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN). I really do not think this is to Pastor Oritsejafor’s credit. Why should any individual want to cling to the two very influential positions? Does this not smack of some mini megalomania of sorts? But the highlight of Pastor Oritsejafor’s 40th anniversary as a preacher, was the gift presented to him by his congregation of Canadian-made Bombadier jet manufactured in 1994 and costing $3.5 million. When the announcement of the gift was made, the entire congregation reportedly erupted in joy, congratulating and backslapping each other on the good fortune of their pastor and, most assuredly, praying it would one day be their turn to be living testimonies to God’s miraculous blessings. I do not see anywhere in the world where any worshipping community can claim that they’ve been able to raise over 7 billion Naira to buy such a gift for their pastor.
I am not surprised that it is another great Catholic priest and intellectual, Dr. Monsignor Mathew Hassan Kukah, who has had the courage and honesty to speak up against the very obscene, purported gift of a private jet to Pastor Oritsejafor by members of his congregation. According to Father Kukah, "But most importantly for me is that, amidst the squalor and poverty that we face in Nigeria, these are not the kind of model display that we should be to our people”. It is difficult to fault the cleric’s logic. And on the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Father Kukah is even more trenchant and biting. In his words “CAN has become more visible in relation to national prayer sessions, pilgrimages, alliances with state power and so on. Unless we distance ourselves, we cannot speak the truth to power. We cannot hear the wails of the poor and the weak. We should not be seen as playing the praying wing of the party in power”. Surely, I cannot put it better. But is Pastor Oritsejafor listening?
This shows how great men of God should live their life, distance their selves from those in power unless if they are not ready to tell them the truth. Pastor Oritsejafor has successfully thrown out the jacket of respect the whole society presented to him when he was born into this world. And embraced the gift of a jet by greedy politicians only at his 40th anniversary as a preacher, when he quite knows that the money used for the purchase of that Jet are stolen wealth from his nation's national wealth. Pastor Oritsejafor should as a matter of urgency, reunite with his Christian fellows and show them the true way of salvation. Mr Oritsejafor have to decide which way to follow between the path of the everlasting God or that of jet donors who will never spend the 6 next years in power.
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