CAN AND ZONING: MATTERS ARISING (2)



Rev Yakubu Pam...North Central CAN

 I apparently spoke a little too soon! I had written last time that “mum has been the word from the now thoroughly discredited and disowned Rev Aminci. As I write this, he seems to have simply vanished from the public space. Mischief has an expiry date!” As subsequent events have shown, this particular mischief didn’t expire; it shifted gear.

For the benefit of those who might have missed the piece and therefore are probably at sea about all these, let’s rewind a little.

The Adamu Ciroma-led Northern Political Leaders Forum, in the process of searching for a consensus candidate to fight for the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party in the wake of the zoning controversy, decided to meet with leaders of the two major religious groups in the land. They did and while there has been no public reaction of any sort from leaders of Jamatul Nasrul Islam (JNI); the Northern wing of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), it would seem, has not been the same again, since then. A cleric by the name of Habu Aminci, reportedly claiming to represent the body told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Hausa Service that “the Christian community in the northern region has resolved to stand on the side of pro-zoning, by ensuring that Christians in the region vote on the side of a Northern aspirant, whether in the PDP’s presidential primaries and the general election as well..."

Reactions were swift. The Kaduna chapter of CAN was the first to speak through a statement signed by its secretary, Reverend John Hayab. The statement dissociated the group "from claims by a Christian clergy, Pastor Aminci that CAN has taken a position on Zoning and would only support a northern candidate in the 2011 presidential elections, saying it has no business with partisan politics".

Describing Aminci's claim as untrue, the statement said "CAN has never and will not, in any case, be partisan in issues related to politics rather, it will continue to maintain our neutrality of being apolitical but religious organisation conscious of national development, cohesion, integration and peaceful coexistence of our dear country."

CAN further stated that it “has no business with such partisanship politics, and has not in any way taken such a stand. Rather, its persistent stand that Nigeria as a country has suffered a monumental under development, owing to nothing but corrupt and bad leadership, and as such Nigerians must irrespective of religion, ethnicity, political inclinations rise and vote into power men and women of virtues, moral and upright tendencies..."

Next to react was CAN, North Central Zone. Rev Yakubu Pam who spoke on behalf of the zone denounced the Aminci's statement as unauthorised and not representing the views of CAN members in the area.

Then came the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which spoke through its Secretary, Elder Saidu Dogo. His words:

“We wish to state that Pastor Aminci which some national dailies were quoting to have spoken on behalf of CAN in the north actually came with the Ciroma entourage and is not an official or the chairman of CAN in Bauchi State or any other state for that matter.
“The Chairman of CAN in Bauchi State is Bishop Musa Tula, who represented the northern CAN Chairman, Archbishop Peter Jatau during the meeting with the Ciroma committee. Pastor Aminci is not an official of CAN anywhere and therefore has no locus standi to speak for christians in the north.

“Those making any issue out of the interview he granted to the Hausa service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) were doing it mainly for mischief and for their selfish political interest. Our position as religious leaders is to remain neutral and continue to pray for the best leadership for this country.
“We wish to state in very clear terms that there is no crack in CAN and will resist any attempt to be dragged into issues that are purely the affairs of politicians. During our meeting with the Ciroma committee, we never said anything on zoning. What we told Ciroma and his committee members was that as religious leaders, we would continue to pray for the best leadership for this country...Ciroma restated our position at the meeting in an interview he granted journalists shortly after the meeting when he told them that the only thing one gets from religious leaders is prayers.”

That was the situation until Rev Aminci surfaced again on the BBC Hausa Service announcing the birth of what many see as a splinter group of CAN in the North and Abuja. Named Northern Christian Leaders‘ Eagle Eye Forum (NCLEEF), Aminci said his new group was a child of necessity borne out of his members’ determination to “not just watch a clique toy with the prestige and dignity of the North”. They are therefore poised to ensure the emergence of a Northerner as President in 2011 to that the North is not cheated out of the remaining four years of the Yar’Adua northern presidency.

He also countered those who said he was incompetent to talk on behalf of Northern CAN: “If they say I am not a member of CAN, they have made a mistake. I am a Christian and a member of CAN. That is indisputable.”

It is not hard to see that this man of God, if he indeed is one, is a political jobber who simply tried to use the platform of CAN to push the candidacy of his principal, whoever that is. When this was roundly and effectively resisted, he took the next obvious step: create a platform. In the circumstance, if the consensus candidate who has emerged is his principal, we we’ll hear a lot more about him and his so-called group in the coming days. If not, he’ll fizzle out unless the aspirant finds value in his mischief.

It is sad that we have people like him in our midst – giving us all a bad name. Lord have mercy.

CAN AND ZONING: MATTERS ARISING



Rev John Hayab,
Secretary, CAN Kaduna Chapter





Not even the Adamu Ciroma-led Northern Leaders Consultative Forum could have anticipated it. As its consultations on the search for a consensus presidential candidate from the North from Peoples Democratic Party, PDP was about to end, they chose to touch base with religious leaders.

In the event, they met with leaders of Jamatul Nasrul Islam (JNI) and those of the Northern wing of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). As I write this nothing, to my knowledge, has been heard in the public space about JNI's reaction to the politicians' proposal, whatever it was. Not so, in the case of CAN - thanks to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Hausa service and a cleric by the name of Habu Aminci.

Reports, quoting BBC, had it that Pastor Aminci granted an interview following the meeting between the prominent northern Nigerian politicians and CAN in respect of Nigeria’s presidency in the 2011 elections, in which he purportedly spoke on behalf of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). He was quoted as saying that: “the Christian community in the northern region has resolved to stand on the side of pro-zoning, by ensuring that Christians in the region vote on the side of a Northern aspirant, whether in the PDP’s presidential primaries and the general election as well..."

Reactions were swift. The Kaduna chapter of CAN was the first to speak through a statement signed by its secretary, Reverend John Hayab. The statement dissociated the group "from claims by a Christian clergy, Pastor Aminci that CAN has taken a position on Zoning and would only support a northern candidate in the 2011 presidential elections, saying it has no business with partisan politics".

Describing Aminci's claim as untrue, the statement said "CAN has never and will not, in any case, be partisan in issues related to politics rather, it will continue to maintain our neutrality of being apolitical but religious organisation conscious of national development, cohesion, integration and peaceful coexistence of our dear country."

CAN further stated that it “has no business with such partisanship politics, and has not in any way taken such a stand. Rather, its persistent stand that Nigeria as a country has suffered a monumental under development, owing to nothing but corrupt and bad leadership, and as such Nigerians must irrespective of religion, ethnicity, political inclinations rise and vote into power men and women of virtues, moral and upright tendencies..."

Next to react was CAN, North Central Zone. Rev Yakubu Pam who spoke on behalf of the zone denounced the Aminci's statement as unauthorised and not representing the views of CAN members in the area.

Then came the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which spoke through its Secretary, Elder Saidu Dogo. His words:

“We wish to state that Pastor Aminci which some national dailies were quoting to have spoken on behalf of CAN in the north actually came with the Ciroma entourage and is not an official or the chairman of CAN in Bauchi State or any other state for that matter.

“The Chairman of CAN in Bauchi State is Bishop Musa Tula, who represented the northern CAN Chairman, Archbishop Peter Jatau during the meeting with the Ciroma committee. Pastor Aminci is not an official of CAN anywhere and therefore has no locus standi to speak for christians in the north.

“Those making any issue out of the interview he granted to the Hausa service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) were doing it mainly for mischief and for their selfish political interest. Our position as religious leaders is to remain neutral and continue to pray for the best leadership for this country.

“We wish to state in very clear terms that there is no crack in CAN and will resist any attempt to be dragged into issues that are purely the affairs of politicians.

“During our meeting with the Ciroma committee, we never said anything on zoning. What we told Ciroma and his committee members was that as religious leaders, we would continue to pray for the best leadership for this country...

“Ciroma restated our position at the meeting in an interview he granted journalists shortly after the meeting when he told them that the only thing one gets from religious leaders is prayers.”

Meanwhile, mum has been the word from the now thoroughly discredited and disowned Rev Aminci. As I write this, he seems to have simply vanished from the public space. Mischief has an expiry date!

But in all of these, one question has continued to tug at my heart. And it is this: how united is CAN? On a national issue such as this, should we have these any voices - State, North Central, the North, speaking for CAN? If this umbrella body of Christians is supposed to comprise five sub-groups - Catholic Secretariat, Christian Council of Nigeria, Christian Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria/Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Organisation of African Initiated Churches & Evangelical Church Winning All/TEKAN, why does it seem to be operating like a geopolitical federal arrangement. It just so happened that the three groups that spoke are in agreement with each other and, presumably, with the national body. What if it had been different? This ought to be food for thought for the current leaders of CAN, I think.







IT’S SPECIAL PRAYER DAY!



Our Lady of Salvation Church, Baghdad
... after the bloody incident



If you are a practicing Christian, you are either getting ready for church, on your way to church, in church already or have gone returned from church, depending on the time you are reading this. That is as it should be and I congratulate you for staying in the faith.

But imagine with me, if you will, that while in the midst of service, armed men stormed the sanctuary, took the entire congregation hostage and began to bark orders at everyone, and making demands that you barely understand. One hour snailed into another and the “service” that was supposed to have lasted only one hour, if you attend one of those “microwave” churches (apology to Rev B) or two/three hours dragged on and on. Imagine that the matter eventually caught the attention of the authorities and security agencies were drafted to the scene. One lead to the other and you began to hear gunshots and cries of agony and bodies dropping all around you in dull thuds. All you could do was await your turn, because you dared not look up. Then as suddenly as the explosions started, it ceased. A surreal quiet returned. You opened your eyes, summoned some courage and looked around you. The siege was over! But so was the earthly sojourn of 55 of your brethren – their lives cut short, suddenly and brutally. Over 80 others were also in danger of losing life or limb. None of it made any sense to you. But then, it’s real!

Now, if you thought that was taken from a work of fiction, you must have missed the news of the unfortunate incident three Sundays ago in Baghdad, Iraq. One news report rendered it this way: “At least 55 people were killed and 70 were injured in a massacre yesterday in the Syrian Catholic Church of Our Lady of Salvation in Baghdad, after Iraqi forces carried out a raid to free the faithful taken hostage by al-Qaeda….According to local sources, there are two priests among the dead, one of whom was shot by a terrorist. Among the dead were also women and eight to ten children. The security chief of Baghdad, Qassem Atta, spoke of eight militants among the dead….The terrorists, who claimed to belong to the organization the Islamic State of Iraq, the Iraqi cell of al Qaeda, had threatened to kill the hostages if some members of the terror network of Osama bin Laden prisoners in Iraq and Egypt were not freed”

WIN WHILE WE WAIT QUIZ Question 3
(Go to www.kingdompeoplemag.com for questions 1 &2)

An Iraqi group linked to Al Qaeda, known as the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) soon claimed responsibility for the attack and went on to give a 48-hour ultimatum to the Coptic Church of Egypt, to free two wives of priests who them are "imprisoned in monasteries" because, they converted to Islam. They described their attack on the church as “a raid on one of the shelters of obscene idolatry, which had always been used by Christians of Iraq as a headquarters for the fight against the religion of Islam and which supports those who fight this religion” and aimed at helping “our poor Muslim sisters…imprisoned in infidel monasteries in idolatrous churches in Egypt." The reference to “our poor muslim sisters,” in the statement, is believed to refer to Camellia Shehata and Wafa Constantine. Both of them were said to be wives of priests; one of whom was believed to have converted to Islam, and the other set to follow suit but have been held in the church against their will. The Egyptian Coptic Church has denied the accusation.

This is neither the date nor the forum to debate the recourse to terror in these matters. Our objective here is to draw the attention of all Christians, particularly those of us in those parts of the world where hostility is far less deadly, to the plight of our brethren in Iraq and similar places across the globe.

Iraq is in the news currently because of that October 31 deadly attack. But it has never left the radar of persecution watchers since the US-led invasion of the country. So deep has been the persecution that it is believed that as many as 500,000 Christians have fled that country since the war started. No prizes for guessing that many more will follow in the wake of the recent attack. But Iraq is not alone. She’s not even in the top-10 of Christian-persecuting nations in the world, according to Open Doors, a persecution watchdog ministry.

North Korea tops the list. Described as “the most difficult place in the world to be Christian”, North Korea tops that list. It is a place where “all religious activity is seen as a revolt against North Korea’s socialist principles and the cult of Kim Jong-il and his father and where “considerable numbers of secret Christians have been discovered, arrested, tortured, and sometimes killed..”. Iran, with only 0.35% of its population professing the faith, comes next. In 2009 alone, at least 85 Christians were arrested many reportedly mistreated, with, those released remaining under surveillance, and court cases are pending. A number have death sentences hanging upon their head for apostasy.

Predictably, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is in the big league. Public non-Muslim worship is forbidden, at the risk of arrest, imprisonment, flogging, deportation, and sometimes torture. Expatriates form the bulk of 2.2% of the population who are Christians. Open Doors say “they are generally allowed to worship privately but some have been arrested, issued with death threats and forced into hiding. Recently there has been an increasing number of arrests. Most Saudi believers must keep their faith secret or risk honour killing.

Somalia, Maldives, Afghanistan, Yemen, Mauritania and Laos complete the top ten; while China, Pakistan and India with their large populations feature prominently in almost daily reports of life-taking and life-threatening incidences of persecution.

I have said of these to say this important thing: Today is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted (IDOP) and I strongly implore ALL of us to join in prayer for our brothers and sisters all over the world facing the fire just because, like you and me, they profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Incidentally, Northern Nigeria has featured on the list for at least one decade; it’s currently at Number 27. Doesn’t that make it even more urgent and important? Thank you.

BOY, OUR CHRISTIAN HERITAGE IS DEEP!

The Sunday evening service was about to end when Apostle Joseph Ayodele Babalola, then leader of the Christ Apostolic Church, arrived at one of the parishes in Ibadan. His presence was duly acknowledged and he was invited to take the closing prayer and say the grace. He obliged. He went on and on and on. Midnight came, he was still praying. The service became a prayer vigil. At day break on Monday, he was still praying. The remnant of congregants who had stayed the night began to leave one after the other in search of their “daily bread”.  The apostle was still praying. When members of the church returned three days later for their midweek service, he was still praying; they simply joined him. About an hour into the day’s session, he finally shouted: “in Jesus’ Name we have prayed”; to which everybody chorused “Amen!” He handed over the microphone to the host pastor hoping he had not prayed too long!

Apostle Babalola went to be with the Lord since 1959.

Rev Dr Lekan Babatunde, senior pastor of The King’s Chapel with headquarters in Ibadan, told that story at the recent campmeeting of Christ Chapel International Churches. Apart from ministering at seminar sessions and the miracle services in the evening, along with chief hosts Rev Dr Tunde Joda and Rev Mrs Victoria Joda, and some other CCIC pastors, he also spoke at the special session for men, where he told the story. He was teaching on the necessity for men to devote more time to prayer, if they are going to be able to play their God-given roles as husbands, fathers, priests and leaders.

And I agree with him absolutely and even can confess to feverishly praying along with my other brothers for grace pray more. But as I ponder that story later, it is the heritage of zeal and spiritual strength that men and women of God like the late Babalola bequeathed to today’s Christians that kept tugging at my subconscious. What continues to flash in my mind, is the ease with which direct inheritors of heritages such as these, are lightly dismissed as ignorant or pseudo-Christians, by sections of the church on account of minor disagreements or differences of practice.

You see, dear reader, one of the major reasons, the Church is weak in Nigeria, and many parts of the world, is disunity. God commands His blessings in the place of unity (see Psalm 133). But, what you find is a fragmented body, each part holding most of the rest in contempt. And, as one has found out, a lot of the contempt and condescension, flow from ignorance – ignorance of the Biblical and/or revelational basis of some of the practices we frown at in one another. This itself has roots in arrogance, which forecloses respect for and graciously listening to each other.

Yet, an understanding of the antecedents of church bodies and groups and their leaders will go a long way to assist in the journey to unity, which is Christ-directed imperative; a command that we can only continue to disobey to our collective and individual hurt. And, as we saw from that snippet from Apostle Babalola’s ministry above, Christianity in Nigeria does have a deep heritage; one that we can be justly proud of and tap into as a unifying platform. 

I became a convert to this line of reasoning from some of my experiences in the last few years. In 2004, I began a special project then titled, Nigeria’s Kingdom Generals. It was designed to showcase, leaders of the Christian faith in Nigeria who, for at least twenty years, had laboured in God’s vineyards consistently, scandal-free. They were to be selected very carefully from the length and breadth of the church. In other words, it was to be a kingdom project, with no bias in favour or against any denomination or group within the Lord’s body.

Conceived then as a special launch edition of the magazine, KINGDOMPeople, it was to feature as many such men of God as my team and I could gather materials on without having to interview them. We didn’t want to interview them for two important reasons. One, from experience, many of those who truly qualify to be included in the project would baulk at the idea of being described as “kingdom generals”, and were unlikely to want to do anything to encourage any such projection. Two, we wanted to leave no one in doubt that those who got on the list did so without soliciting for it in any way.

We were under no illusions that it was going to be easy. But it turned out to be almost daunting! That is, however, a story for another day. The process of researching the stories meant for the publication has proven an eye-opener. It has made all the efforts well worth it. It has helped me lose some of my “Pentecostal arrogance”, as Pastor Ladi Thompson of Macedonia Initiative Nigeria, once put it. That when I found myself say saying to myself: “Boy, our Christian heritage sure is deeper than we realised!”

By now, I can sense a question in your mind; so here’s the answer. Nigeria’s Kingdom General has been rested. In its place is “Vanguards of the Faith”, which is running in as a special section in KINGDOMPeople magazine, the rebirth edition of which, will roll off the press this week. Believe me, it is a must read for anyone who wants to be God’s tool to answer the Lord Jesus’ prayer in John 17 that the Father “Keep them in Your name, those whom You have given Me, so that they may be one as We are(11); that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. And I have given them the glory which You have given Me, that they may be one, even as We are one, I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them as You have loved Me ( 21-23).