THAT CHRISTIAN CONSULTATIVE FORUM COMMUNIQUE (2)

I am writing this on Wednesday, February 24, 2010, one of the most dramatic dates yet in the unfolding drama you might title as “Till Death Do Us Part.” The day’s episode ran in part like this: “Yar’Adua returns to Nigeria under cover of darkness in an air ambulance, heads for a clinic (NTA); EXCOF meeting fails to hold; up to about 11 am Yar’Adua’s body guards were in charge in and around the Council chamber with a security detail guarding the president’s chair probably to ensure that nobody sits on it (NEXT); SSS officers ransack office of the Vice-President (1:30pm); Jonathan holds a meeting of Executive Council of the Federation, not in Council Chamber but privately (2pm); Yar’Adua’s spokesman Olusegun Adeniyi issues a statement declaring that “while the President completes his recuperation, Vice President Jonathan will continue to oversee the affairs of state" (2:04pm); It was announced that Acting President Goodluck Jonathan would meet with First Lady Turai Yar’Adua this evening (2:48pm)…”

Of course, you would have watched many more episodes by the time you read this. And perhaps my conclusions would either have been validated or rubbished. But I shall not shy away from stating it all the same. Wednesday marked the coronation of a new acting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in the person of the ice-cool, Hajia Tura’i Yar’Adua. It remains to be seen how long this will last, but make no mistake about it, there are those not averse to the prospects of a Tura’i presidency, defacto and dejure. If you doubt that, please read this extract from an interview with the controversial kite-flier, Dr Godwin Dabo Adzuana, who, these days, likes to be styled as chairman of the Benue state Council of Elders:

“After almost 60 years of independence, Nigeria has got to a stage where we can have a woman president. Secondly, when that man assumed duty, everybody thought she would be the docile kind of Northern woman. But this woman, within a very short time, took control of her office and you can see. The other day, I watched her on television in South Africa and everybody was beaming on her instead of the husband. Again, she was in Europe. I have not met her since she became the First Lady. She comes out with the impression that this is a woman that is in charge of the mechanics of control in the Presidency. Thirdly, Mrs. Yar’Adua has never made a promise to anybody and failed. Anybody who has cried to her and said Madam, I need your support, if she says yes she will support you, that person comes out being supported instantly… That woman is in control and when she talks, you see her radiate with confidence. She will be a better representative of the Yar’Adua family dynasty at this stage than the husband.”

But before you think I am deviating from the headline and therefore the focus of this piece, let me assure you, our eyes are still on the ball. Apart from the fact that the on-going drama is one of the direct harbingers of the communiqué under consideration, the events of February 24 and matters arising from them make the challenges thrown by the communiqué very urgent. And two of the statements issued that dramatic day bring into bold relief, the place of the church and its continuous failure to take that place.

Let’s take the statement by Yar’Adua’s spokesman, Olusegun Adeniyi first. It reads in part: “After being discharged by the team of medical experts overseeing his treatment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua returned to the Presidential Villa, Abuja early this morning (Wednesday). President Yar’Adua wishes to express his profound gratitude to all Nigerians for their prayers for his recovery, their exceptional generosity of spirit and their appreciation of the fact that all mortals are subject to the vagaries of ill-health…President Yar’Adua wishes to re-assure all Nigerians that on account of their unceasing prayers and by the special grace of God, his health has greatly improved…However, while the President completes his recuperation, Vice President Jonathan will continue to oversee the affairs of state” (emphasis added).

Now take a look at those emphases: prayers for his recovery…exceptional generosity of spirit… account of their unceasing prayers … by the special grace of God. They all admit to recognition of the place of faith and the spiritual, not just, in the private affairs of individuals, but also in our nation. It is therefore a cue, if any were required, for the Church, which in my opinion, represents the ultimate in faith and the spiritual and was in the forefront of the “unceasing prayers” to weigh in with godly counsel to the dramatis personae. I may yet be proven wrong, but if past record is anything to go by, none will come. And if it did, it would most probably the usual platitude. I sure would be joyful, were I to prove wrong, by the time you read this.

But consider, on the other hand, the proactive and immediate response of other stakeholders, including, the political parties, civil societies and even a foreign government like the United States of America. In fact, it is believed in very informed circles that the statement by Johnnie Carson, Under Secretary of State on African Affairs, influenced the direction of events last Wednesday!

In a classic case of telling truth to power, the statement said: “…We hope that his health is sufficient to enable him to fully resume his official duties…Nigeria needs a strong, healthy, and effective leader to ensure the stability of the country and to manage Nigeria's many political, economic, and security challenges. Recent reports, however, continue to suggest that President Yar'Adua's health remains fragile and that he may still be unable to fulfil the demands of his office.
Nigeria is an extraordinarily important country to its friends and partners, and all of those in positions of responsibility should put the health of the President and the best interests of the country and people of Nigeria above personal ambition or gain…”

This is exactly the kind of role the Church is expected to play and must aspire to play henceforth. So, when the CCFN communiqué concluded that: “… the Church must lead in the transformation of our nation, its leaders lead with integrity, honesty of purpose, and speak out forcefully against the ills of country’s leaders…,” it is absolutely spot-on. (CONTINUES)

THAT CHRISTIAN CONSULTATIVE FORUM COMMUNIQUE

For too long, we have been contented to sit by and watch while politicians, of all hues, toy with the destiny of our nation and the future of our youths. We have become like the clean-up specialists waiting in the wings to clear the mess made by politicians. Or like fire fighters after the act of arson is well under way. When they start sectarian violence, we rush in with words of comfort and relief materials for the victims. When they bastardize government universities, we fall over ourselves to build our own. When they rig elections, we sermonize on the need to move our nation forward.

And so, thanks to the so-called power vacuum crisis occasioned by President Umaru Yar’Adua’s current sojourn in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for medical reasons, Christian leaders finally rose from doctrine-induced slumber. Under the aegis of a new group known as the Christian Consultative Forum of Nigeria (CCFN), they met, comprehensively surveyed the horizon, and concluded that the Church has a critical role to play in the remaking the fatherland. The result was a communiqué which this writer considers something of a watershed. In my next few write-ups therefore, I shall try to highlight and review its contents, because, mercifully, the leaders, I understand, plan to formulate an action plan from the communiqué.

The process of arriving at an action plan promises to be interesting, and controversial, because the Church is not yet that close-knit body that the Lord Jesus birthed, and is coming to rapture. If anything, we are a body seemingly suffering from Parkinson’s, with many of the parts, at best, reluctant to receive communication from or cooperate with the head, and with each other. Recall that, that meeting did not have representation from the umbrella body of Christians in Nigeria, the Christian Association of Nigeria. And the fact that a body like CCFN was required, in the first place, may also be saying something about the inclination or disinclination of sections of the Church on the issues at hand. But we must not be discouraged. The presence of Dr Christopher Kolade who was an Anglican organist, Mr Gamaliel Onosode a Baptist deacon, Mr Felix Ohiwerei, an elder from the Redeemed Christian Church of God and Mr Femi Pedro, a catholic, among many others, is indicative of an emerging consensus.

Doctrinal issues will also come up, hopefully for discussion and resolution rather than with confrontational arrogance. In fact, the communiqué raised one such issue up-front, as it were; the issue of prosperity. It immediately caught the attention of one of the respected readers of this column who sent in a comment (see below). I‘ll come back to it presently. But it is important to find common grounds on the major doctrinal issue of whether the church, in fact, does have a role in how the world around us, the world which we are in, is governed. I believe that, for far too long, the Church has allowed the enemy to sell us the lie that, politics is politics and faith is faith, the twain never meet. It is the same dummy many of us also bought concerning business, such that we keep our faith out of the work place; different rules for each! Those of us who believe that the Church has roles and responsibilities to society, beyond praying for those in authority, and cleaning up their mess, need to prayerfully and lovingly get our brethren, who think otherwise, to see the need for change. Until they do however, we have to move full blast ahead with our conviction. That is why I am particularly elated by the birth of CCFN.
Readers of this column will recall that we discussed this issue, among others, in a serial, A Wake-Up Call to Church Leaders, in July/August 2007. I shall, of course, be quoting as necessary from that serial as this one continues, but interested readers can access it on this webblog.

For instance we wrote in the August 12, 2007 piece as follows: “..The time has come for the church in Nigeria to take its place as a crucial stakeholder in the affairs of our nation. For too long, we have been contented to sit by and watch while politicians, of all hues, toy with the destiny of our nation and the future of our youths. We have become like the clean-up specialists waiting in the wings to clear the mess made by politicians. Or like fire fighters after the act of arson is well under way. When they start sectarian violence, we rush in with words of comfort and relief materials for the victims. When they bastardize government universities, we fall over ourselves to build our own. When they rig elections, we sermonize on the need to move our nation forward. One wise man said politics is too important to be left for politicians; we say politics is to dirty to be played by ‘real Christians.’ The result is what we are seeing today – five of six governors accused of wrongdoing in office; one already convicted; one already singing canary-like and one almost certainly irredeemable – are Christians, nominal or not!”

The situation has not changed since we wrote those words two-and-a-half years ago. If anything, it has gone worse in many respects. It’s action time, church…it’s action time.

FROM MY INBOX

STOP TALKING, START ACTING

Thanks for the rich resources you usually share. Reading through this edition, I have a comment.

“The church must also teach and develop its members into leaders and must promote integrity and discipline, encourage austere living and generosity and discourage prosperity and materialism.”

The portion marked bold is what I will like to comment about. Austere living and prosperity, is any of the attendees lacking in the highlighted, does any of them live austere life? or better still poor? The message God gave me may be different from yours, what makes these men think the one preaching prosperity is worldly.
We should grow men and women of integrity in the church. It is almost better today to do business with a Muslim than one professing to be Christian or pastor. The church today lacks INTEGRITY; the heart of God is bleeding as a result of the politics in the church. Our church politics is hundred times more wicked than that of PDP or AC.

We who are not leading ministries but leaders in our rights are doing much more than most of our pulpit men/women. They should stop talking and start acting/living that we may see and know they are not just talking for talking sake.

ADENUSI, Patrick
Lagos, Nigeria

THANK GOD FOR ONE UNWRITTEN (OR UNDELIVERED) LETTER (2)

“…The Church cannot be transformed if it has not been working to develop its own leaders and champions amongst its members. The church must therefore instil discipline amongst its members, sanction erring members and develop new leaders in the way of the Lord. We therefore, need to restore the right values, re-establish high standards in corporate and public governance and social behaviour, and to adopt good discipline, and establish a reliable system for ensuring consistently good performance. In addition, the church should not promote materialism and prosperity gospel, but encourage austere living and generosity” -CCFN

And so, for the first time in the history of our nation, there is an acting president in the saddle. Ordinarily that should be no news, but the battle of near-titanic proportion that brought Dr Goodluck Jonathan to the seat in an acting capacity has made an extraordinary event out of what may well have been received with a bored yawn elsewhere.

All’s well that ends well, then? Don’t bet on it. The procedure used in installing the acting president is not unlikely to be challenged. That, particularly now that Michael Aondoakaa has been redeployed to Special Duties and should have time on his hands for as much mischief as his heart can take; and also the rise of judicial activism of the reactionary type on the Federal Bench. Challenged, it is doubtful that it would stand and even it did, we would simply have benefited from an illegality contrived by a power elite adept at self-serving manipulations of the law. I therefore honestly believe that there is a minefield ahead. Enough said about that for now.

As I began to posit last week, the power hijack by President Umar Yar’Adua’ kitchen cabinet, following his departure for medical vacation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the so-called power vacuum in the country - despicable as it is - did work out for our good in many respects. Thanks to it, a new mass mobilisation front with a well-known cleric in its vanguard, the Save Nigeria Group, was born. Former Heads of States and Chief Justices, normally reticent and supportive of any government in power, came together in a body known as Eminent Elders’ Group. Sectional groups, which had tended to see every issue from ethnic and regional lens, donned nationalist togas. And then there was the Christian Consultative Forum of Nigeria, which weighed in towards the end of the crisis; and which as I said before was the most important single gain of the crisis - from the point of view of this column and its rationale.

As we said last week, it was a welcome rise of the Church from slumber. Though it was said to have predated the power vacuum in conception, having been borne out of “an apostolic summit held by some of Nigeria's front running Christian leaders on November 2, 2009”, it seemed the crisis propelled it from the drawing board to action. Also as we reported, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), convener of the Forum stated that one of its objectives was to get the body of Christ to “transform the nation into a progressive, equitable and developed nation”. Which was why, in their statement on the crisis, the forum was “called on political leaders in the country to adhere to the constitution in efforts to resolve the political quagmire and leadership issue caused by the absence of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.”

Apart from the PFN president, we identified some of those present at the meeting as “eminent Nigerian followers of Christ, with years of incontrovertible Christian witness, such as, former Nigeria High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Dr. Christopher Kolade; board room icon and one-time presidential aspirant, Deacon Gamaliel Onosode and a former Chairman of Nigeria Breweries Plc, Elder Felix Ohiwerei.” Also in attendance at the historic meeting were: Former Chief of Staff, Rear Admiral Mike Akhibge (rtd.), Femi Pedro and university don, Professor Adamu Baikie among others.

Beyond the immediate issue however, the group’s communiqué read by Mr Femi Pedro, a former Deputy Governor of Lagos State, is nothing if not a long overdue wake-up call to the entire church. It reads in part:
“The Forum noted that for the church to lead in the turn around, it must get itself to a level of building a new Nigeria on integrity, which involves attributes like competence, faithfulness, probity, transparency, commitment, courage, ethical values and behaviour and accountability.

“…Therefore, reiterate that the church is neither a social institution nor a political party, but a spiritual fellowship for Christians and its only agenda is that of God. And that is, through this agenda, that our Christian leaders must be consistently courageous to teach all men (both leaders and followers) to observe all things that Christ has commanded;

“…Recognised that the church cannot be transformed if it has not been working to develop its own leaders and champions amongst its members. The church must therefore instil discipline amongst its members, sanction erring members and develop new leaders in the way of the Lord. We therefore, need to restore the right values, re-establish high standards in corporate and public governance and social behaviour, and to adopt good discipline, and establish a reliable system for ensuring consistently good performance. In addition, the church should not promote materialism and prosperity gospel, but encourage austere living and generosity;
“…Concluded that the church must lead in the transformation of our nation, its leaders must lead with integrity, honesty of purpose, and speak out forcefully against the ills of country’s leaders. The church must also teach and develop its members into leaders and must promote integrity and discipline, encourage austere living, and generosity and discourage prosperity and materialism.”

Some communiqué, that! It is saying some of the thing we have said here over time, particularly in a serial titled, “Wake-Up Call to Church Leaders.” It is pointing in the way that the Church must go if it will take its place in providing the leadership in every sector of our national life as indeed it should. Those who argue that the Church has no place in these matters may have forgotten that the Bible said of the then yet unborn Christ, the government of the world shall be upon His shoulder. The relevant passage reads: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). If the Church is the Body of Christ, pray, where is the shoulder of Christ located, if not in his body!

The CCFN has set us an agenda, thanks to one unwritten (or undelivered) letter. All things indeed work together for good…

THANK GOD FOR ONE UNWRITTEN (OR UNDELIVERED) LETTER

ThisDay newspaper had reported exclusively in its Monday, December 7 edition, that the President actually wrote and sent a letter to the Senate informing it of his “vacation”. He was said to have sent it through his Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters, Mohammed Abba-Aji, who on reading it, thought it was politically inexpedient to deliver it. The erstwhile Senator, for the record, denied it, demanded a retraction of the report and an apology from the newspaper. He is yet to receive either; instead, the newspaper stated “categorically that it is standing by its story”.

All things, says the Bible, work together for the good of those who love God; those called according to His purpose. That, for me, sums up what we are going through in this wonderful land of ours. Like Joseph’s brothers in the Holy Book, the hawks around President Umar Musa Yar’Adua, who have held him and us hostage meant the current situation for evil, but I see that God is allowing it for our good.
When over 70 days ago, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was rushed out of his Aso Rock palace in Abuja, to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia for medical attention, not even Pius Okugbere, reputed to be Nollywood’s master story-teller could have scripted the events, as they have unfolded or said to have unfolded, since then.

Cast your mind back to the days immediately after Yar’Adua’s hurried departure. ThisDay newspaper had reported exclusively in its Monday, December 7 edition, that the President actually wrote and sent a letter to the Senate informing it of his “vacation”. He was said to have sent it through his Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters, Mohammed Abba-Aji, who on reading it, thought it was politically inexpedient to deliver it. The erstwhile Senator, for the record, denied it, demanded a retraction of the report and an apology from the newspaper. He is yet to receive either; instead, the newspaper stated “categorically that it is standing by its story”.

Were the letter written and delivered, we would have been spared all the inconveniences of the last six weeks. There would have been an acting president in office, legitimately able to take decisions on behalf of the sovereign state of Nigeria. That president would most probably have been able to speak with President Barack Obama of the United States in the wake of young AbdulMuttalab’s abortive terror attack on a US-bound aircraft on Christmas day, and possibly prevent Nigeria from getting on the so-called terror watch list. That president may also have had the authority to sign the 2009 Supplementary Appropriation Bill into law and, through it, acquire the muscle to go full blast ahead with the Niger Delta post-amnesty programme. Then the threatened resumption of militancy in that region of our nation, by Movement for Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) might have been unjustifiable.

We may not know for sure in the immediate whether the letter was written or not; and whether it was truly hijacked and by whom. But let me show you what we would have missed, if the letter had been written and delivered. And these are the real and tangible gains of the on-going crisis.

For one thing, we would never have discovered or rather confirmed beyond all reasonable doubts, the depth of disdain and contempt the power elite in this country have for those outside their bloc; such that we are, every single one of us, no more than mere puns of their giant power chess board. For another we would never have confirmed that the devil has the soul of many of our leaders firmly under his filthy thumb! Forgive me, dear reader, if that offends your sensibility, but there’s really no better way to put it.

But those are not all the gains. Consider the formation of Save Nigeria Group. Ah, yes, we’ve had all kinds of special-purpose vehicles to fight one socio-political battle or the other, over the years since flag independence fifty years ago. What’s different about SNG is simple: men of God have joined the vanguard of the activists. Rev (Dr) Tunde Bakare, who has been known to spit fire from the pulpit, was in the thick of the protest marches in Abuja and, later, in Lagos. And he wasn’t there to pray! Bishop Emmah Isong, chairman, Cross River State chapter of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, and international president of the Association of God’s Servants was also involved. Were things to be at the level of abnormality we’ve learnt to live with, they and others like them would probably have remained pulpit activists. But their “enough is enough” carried much more weight on the streets than from the pulpits, obviously because many in the pews had been waiting for corresponding work, to give life to the faith that they had taught and preached over the years.

Were the letter written and duly delivered, we would not have seen the hitherto highly unlikely sight of a motley group of former heads of states and chief justices of the Federal Republic of Nigeria coming together to publicly disagree with any action or omission of a sitting, even if “not on seat” president. Yet that was what we saw last week when a group calling itself the Eminent Elders’ Group lent its voice to the call on President Yar’Adua to write and cause to be delivered that now famous “medical vacation” letter.
But, from the point of view of this column, easily the most salutary by-product of the current devil-inspired tomfoolery of the myopic, power-drugged cabal in and around the presidency is the rise of the Church from slumber through a body known as the Christian Consultative Forum of Nigeria. Said to have been borne out of “an apostolic summit held by some of Nigeria's front running Christian leaders on November 2, 2009”, it was convened by Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN). Stating that its objective was to “the body of Christ to transform the nation into a progressive, equitable and developed nation”, the forum was reported to have “called on political leaders in the country to adhere to the constitution in efforts to resolve the political quagmire and leadership issue caused by the absence of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.”

The meeting, which was attended by a number of eminent Nigerian followers of Christ, with years of incontrovertible Christian witness, such as, former Nigeria High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Dr. Christopher Kolade; board room icon and one-time presidential aspirant, Deacon Gamaliel Onosode; a former Chairman of Nigeria Breweries Plc, Elder Felix Ohiwerei and university don, Professor Adamu Baikie, also addressed the long neglected issue of the role of the Church in nation building. We’ll look at what they have to say here next week, if the Lord tarries; and let’s see if you find my excitement out of place. (CONTINUES)