KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE’S HEROES 2007

Edwin Louis Cole, recognized as founder of the modern Christian men’s movement from the great works he did through Christian Men’s Network once made a declaration to this effect: I will make only the godly my heroes; I will invite them to my home; I will celebrate them. Now, those may not have been his exact words, but they certainly capture his conviction. Those words have ministered to me so powerfully. The truth they contain has influenced me in my personal life and in ministry, and will continue to till the very end. I believe with all my heart that even as the Bible has declared “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord…(Psalm 33:12)”; so also is it true that “blessed is that nation whose heroes are the godly”.

Yes, sure, it’s the fad thing to do; celebrate creativity, athletic prowess, intellect, efficiency, and all those things which we do and have elevated to high art as part of a global community of shadow-chaser. They give our world a sense of going somewhere; a sense of achievement and raise up role models of all kinds, many of whom warp up our values and send the impressionable on a wild goose chase after the ephemeral.

At about age 60, yours sincerely is not a star-struck doting worshipper at any man-made altars, but I do admire those who manifest godliness a great deal; possibly because I am still struggling along that path, but certainly because I do have a witness in my heart that we are a nation currently holding up near-villains as heroes, while the real heroes get scant attention.

That is why I have decided to name and publicly acknowledge those I have called KINGDOM PERSPECTIVE’S HEROES 2007. These are mainly people I had the opportunity of writing about in this column since its inception. Of course, there are many more I had the privilege of meeting, reading about and checking out, during the year and whom I would have loved to recognize, but since I didn’t have the privilege of writing about them earlier I shall limit myself to these three (alphabetically by surname): Dr Peter Jasper Akinola, Mr Peter Obi and Elder Felix Ohiwerei

Akinola has featured in this column a number of times. The most recent of this was in May 2007 when in the gloom that enveloped the nation after “Elections 2007,” a ray of light broke through by way of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) Primate’s listing among the world’s100 most influential leaders by TIME magazine.

In “Something To Cheer” published May 13, I found myself joyfully joining “other Nigerians in celebrating one of our own, Most Rev Dr Peter Jasper Akinola, Primate and Metropolitan, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) and President, Christian Association of Nigeria. For the second time in three years, he has been named in The TIME 100, a TIME magazine list of the 100 most influential persons in the world. These are people, in the words of TIME’s Managing Director, Mr. Richard Stengel who “by virtue of their character, their drives and their dreams change the world and make history”. He first made the list last year”.
I recalled that he was “listed among the Leaders and Revolutionaries; a category that includes such individuals as Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, wife of former President Bill Clinton and a front-runner for the United States presidency, Condoleezza Rice current US Secretary of State, Queen Elizabeth 11 of England and; Pope Benedict XVI…”
Explaining TIME’s choice of Akinola in a three-paragraph piece David Van Biema identified him as “a harsh critic of the Episcopal Church (U.S.A.), which elected an openly gay bishop in 2003” whose imprint was on “the rancorous disunion within the worldwide Anglican Communion and whose “impatience with earlier, more deliberate measures” was being echoed by “Anglicanism‘s 38 primates” which had just then “ presented the Episcopalians with demands for a retreat on sexuality and direct communion involvement in Episcopal governance.“ Such had become Akinola’s influence that TIME was already positing that should “Anglicanism‘s conservative southern provinces decide that the Anglican Church‘s top official, the Archbishop of Canterbury is too liberal and chose their own leader”, Akinola was a likely choice. TIME acknowledged though that “the Nigerian cleric has denied any (such) leadership ambition”
I then added: “What makes Akinola’s award very significant and much more worthy of celebration is the enduring nature of the value for which the man of God is standing and for which even a largely cynical secular publication like TIME could not ignore him. It’s the war against gay ascendancy in the leadership cadre of the church. It is a war for the soul of the church and society that has been lost largely in many parts of the world, particularly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and even next door, South Africa…”
Although Akinola has vacated the presidency of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, he remains a good example, a model of courageous, godly leadership worth emulating by all.
Readers of this column would have been very surprised were Anambra state’s Governor Peter Obi not on my Heroes 2007 list! This is simply because of my admission of ecstasy at the man’s faith in God which saw him doggedly wrestle down all odds to retrieve his mandate and retrieve it to the fullest, and his magnanimity in victory. The following quotes from the June 24 piece titled “Upon This Rock…” should throw the light on Governor Obi’s place among the heroes:

“In an interview with Sunday Independent, which was held before the Supreme Court judgment that correctly put his tenure as enduring till 2010, but which was not published until after it, Obi was quoted as saying the following prophetic words:
‘Mark my word, I will return to the Government House, Awka, to complete my tenure. I say so because the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria makes it imperative that I serve out my term as elected governor of the state. Besides, I see myself as a child of destiny raised by God to salvage my people and, as a Christian, I know that God does not lie…At the appointed time, the will of God concerning me and Anambra State will be made manifest. It may seem that justice is being delayed now, but definitely, it cannot be denied when that time comes…I have asked just one thing from my people, and that is: that they should continue to pray for the will of God to prevail in my situation and in the situation of Anambra. God, in his infinite mercy, should give the Supreme Court justices the wisdom and courage to do the right thing whenever they will take the final decision on his matter.’
“He did not have any doubt whatsoever about the triumph of good over evil. He was fully persuaded of the victory of righteousness over wickedness. And he did not mince words. As those of the school of political correctness would have cynically put it, he was “wearing his faith on his sleeves” or “playing the religion card.” But a man, any man who would swim against the swift current of evil flooding our land and stay the course must stand firm on his faith. That is what Obi has done and is doing. That is the secret of his success.” That is the stuff that godly heroes are made of.
Elder Felix Ohiwerei, 70, whom I had the privilege of interacting with very briefly during the third quarter of the year also left such a great impression on me that he certainly stands tall as a true Nigerian hero. He spoke on “Wanted: Men of Character” at a luncheon organized by Christian Men’s Network Nigeria and during the interactive session that climaxed the event left no one in doubt that he walks his talk.

In the column of November 4, 2007, I reported that part of the meeting this way: “…In answer to one of the questions on his experience as a born-again Christian at the helm of a big company like Nigeria Breweries, he recalled one of his encounters with corruption at one of Nigeria’s seaports.

“According to him, the top man in charge of raw materials was for some reasons not available and so he was contacted on the need to “do something” (euphemism for paying some bribes) about clearing their consignments at the port. He refused. Things began to drag and raw material stock was running low with possible adverse consequences for production. He knew he had to do something else! So he instructed that fresh orders for raw materials be made and air-freighted into the country. This was done. Production was not affected and he virtually had to be begged to come and clear the earlier consignment. Needless to say, this sent signals to people in certain quarters and the rest, as they say, is history! “What Elder Ohiwerei was saying was ‘I walked my talk’. It could not have been easy, but he had the courage to do what had to be done...” A man like this would be my hero any day!

Happy New Year to all and may 2008 be a year of great new beginnings for you, your family and our nation.

First published in a Nigerian Daily, the Sunday Independent, published in Lagos Nigeria.