“If you steal, do not steal too much at a time: you may be arrested. Steal little by little.”– Mobutu Sese Seko to Ministers/party Delegates, 1971.

I begin this piece with a question: Is every chief a thief? I ask this because in the biggest bazaar of corruption in our history, of which Dasuki-gate is but a rehearsal, every one of note being mentioned in negative light is a chief.

If you do not understand what I am saying, just look at the roll-call: Chief Raymond Dokpesi, Chief Olisa Metuh, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, Chief Olu Falae, Chief Jim Nwobodo, Chief Bode George, Chief Tony Anenih, Chief Rasseed Ladoja, Chief Musliu Obanikoro, Chief Peter Odili, Chief Amadu Ali etc.

And there is mention of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as well as Dr. Iyorchia Ayu. They may not be titled chiefs, but to the extent that are a Ph.D is an academic chief, we can talk of the duo as Chief Okonjo-Iweala and Chief Ayu. And if we factor in the fact that Okonjo-Iweala was the Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy (a Prime Minister, sort of), we can up-grade her to a High Chief. Ditto for Ayu. As former Senate President and Minister many times over, he too is a High Chief. And for those who are obsessed with gender equity, they are not disappointed: for besides Chief Okonjo-Iweala, there is Chief Diezani Alison-Madueke and Chief Stella Oduah.

I do not know if an “Alhaji” can also be considered a chief of sorts since, but if yes, then, we have them aplenty. Many Alhajis feature in this notorious bazaar. There is Alh. Tanko Yakassai. He forgot that he collected money from Dasuki, and then he remembered it. It is either forgetfulness or amnesia. One is a bad habit; the other is a sickness. There is also Alh. Mohammed Haliru. An ex-Customs boss, he appears wedded to the custom of collecting customs! There is Alh. Adamu Muazu. And, yes, there is Alh. Attahiru Bafarawa, the prayer-warrior, prayer-consultant and prayer-specialist all combined into one!

However, even if an Alhaji is not ordinarily qualified to be a chief, to the degree that an Alhaji is a chieftain of a party, in this case the PDP, he is a chief. Matter-of-factly, both chief and chieftain are in the same neighbourhood. After all, a chief can be the short form of chieftain. And so we have these Alhaji-Chiefs: Chief Bashir Yuguda. Chief Mahmud Shinkafi. Chief Shuaibu Salisu. Chief Bello Sarkin Yaki etc.

And in running the bazaar, the chiefs were very fair, very equitable and very balanced: no zone was marginalized. In the South-South, Chief Odili led the locust army; with High Chief Dokpesi providing adequate cover. In the South-East, there was Chief Jim Nwobodo, with his evergreen handsomeness. (I cannot help but remember that in 1984, he grossed over 200 years as jail-term for corrupt enrichment from a military tribunal during Gen. Muhammadu Buhari first coming. Will history repeat itself?).

Well, let us move on.  In the North-Central, there was Dr. Amadu Ali. He was chaperoned by Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, From the North-East, there was Amb.Yuguda himself. And was ably supported by AbdullahiYerima. In the South-West, there was the SDP leader, Chief Olu Falae: ex-banker, ex-SGF, ex-Finance Minister, ex-Presidential candidate! (Although the Dasuki largesse was for the SDP, the party did not know about it until January 2016 after the Dasuki testimony!) The Ondo chief was serenaded by the (in)famous Lagos-Boy, Chief Bode George, Chief Obanikoro, Gov. (Chief ) Ayo Fayose among others.

Nigeria’s North-West is the biggest in terms of electoral demographics, and that is, not surprisingly, where the bulk of the bazaar funds went. Chief Muhammed Haliru made a big impression, but the prize really goes to Chief Bafarawa, who, besides allegedly collecting money from Yuguda and Muazu, grossed another N4.7 billion for prayers and “spiritual” purposes.  One just wonders: If Bafarawa could take almost N5billion from President Jonathan for prayers, how much did he pay for his two election-victories in 1999 and 2003? And, by the way, since Witches and Wizards also endorsed President Jonathan, and he was paying for endorsements (Listen to Falae), was it Bafarawa’s schedule to pay the National Association of Nigerian Witches and Wizards?

And the professions were fairly represented too. The Imams, the Bishops, the Ogboni Fraternity, Witches, Marabouts, even the media, a usually neglected zone, was represented by the Chairman/Editor-in-Chief of THISDAY newspapers, Chief Nduka Obaigbena.

And just when I was thinking that chiefs and the pejorative connotation of thieves is a civilian thing, the military top-brass made a powerful, even if shameful, advent. There is Col. Sambo Dasuki himself. With a whole Gate (Dasuki-Gate) forever named after him, he stands kampe as the Grand Father Christmas. As a scion of the Sultanate, Northern Nigeria’s paramount traditional stool and even an heir, Dasuki is a chief in his own right.  Then, there is the former Chief of Air Staff, AVM Adeola Amosu. If the chief of Air staff is not a chief, I do not know who again is a chief. But that is not all: a chief must have followers. And so there is AVM JB Adigun, Chief of Accounts and Budget, NAF. There is also another chief: the former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika. And there is the whole former Chief of Air Staff and former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh. Did you see that? A Chief of Air Staff and Chief of Defence Staff who is a Chief Air Marshall! That is a Chief in three places! So he is not just a chief or a high chief – Alex Badeh is a Triple High Chief! And if you see him, he looks like a chief: big, full, large…overflowing in his uniform.

And because this is a democracy, the chiefs were democratic in running the bazaar. This is why we are reading and hearing of academics, ambassadors, statesmen, doctors, publishers, bureaucrats, technocrats, ex-servicemen, service men etc. In other words, we have academic chiefs, bureaucratic chiefs, technocratic chiefs, political chiefs, military chiefs who ministered as chiefs, high-priests and chief-priests in Dasuki’s temple of trans-national corruption.

But I am worried. We have chiefs all over the place; some of them looking respectable and doing respectable things i.e. as far as eyes can see. So it cannot be true that every chief is a thief. I do not want to believe that. Nonetheless, the worry lingers. Today, when Chief A appears on TV, someone says: “That chief is a thief.” And when another chief is shown on another channel, again, someone exclaims: “And that chief too: he is a thief.”

So how can we know which chief is not a thief or associated with thieving? How can we tell that this clean chief today is not a potential thief or that his name will not be in tomorrow’s newspaper? Is it until Dasuki sings or stops singing? Is it until the probe is over? Can we tell the character of a chief by his dressing or smile or carriage or voice? It is confusing. When I asked this in a café, a Peace Ambassador told me that: “Every chief is not a thief, but every chief is corrupt.”

More confusion. But ex-President Jonathan said: “Stealing is not corruption.” So it means these chiefs in issue were not stealing. But if they were not stealing, they are not thieves. So why are they in trouble now? He added that they were looting! I try to get the drift. A looter is not a thief – he is a looter. But what is looting? It is to raid. It is like a Pandora Box i.e. if you consider the synonyms. And these are its synonyms: despoil, vandalize, wreck, shatter, demolish, damage, knock down, pull down, flatten, ruin, desecrate, destroy….

So, well, yes: a looter is not exactly a thief: he is a senior or super-thief, a mega-thief. He is a damager, a destroyer, a vandal…, in fact, a weapon of mass destruction. This is because when one man loots N15billion, N30billion or even N5billion, it means roads go undone, hospitals become mere consulting rooms, hoodlums take over the streets, teachers are not paid, grasses take over schools, projects are abandoned half-way….

I insist that it is worrisome. How and Why? Let me explain. Every chief is a community leader. Many people look up to him: his clan, his friends, his supporters, his associates, his business partners, and even his community of chiefs: for there are chiefs and there are chiefs. And we can add to the list even his detractors who might seek to dethrone him.

On a wider level, both his nation and generation look up to him too. This is why his generation may confer a knighthood on him and his nation too may bestow this award or that National Honour on him: OON, CON, CFR, GCON ….

And talking about National Honours and Generals AVMs, as well as military chiefs, President Muhammadu Buhari comes to my mind. As a double Commander-in-Chief, he is a double chief. And being a two-star general, that makes him a double chief. If we combine double and double, Buhari emerges as a Quatro chief! He is also general: that makes him a chief. But this Chief is a very powerful argument that not every chief is a thief. And this is why in 1984, he threw many of these knighted, but thieving chiefs into Kirikiri prisons, with their National Honours and gleaming medals: OON, CON, OFR, CFR, GCON….Today, history seems to be repeating itself.

Imobo-Tswam, a public affairs analyst, writes from Abuja. He can be reached at: simonpita2008@yahoo.com. [myad]

President MuhammaduBuhari deserves the sympathy of the multitude of Nigerians and foreign friends who want him to succeed, the multitude yearning for the change he earnestly promised, that change the country can’t wait to see and which his administration has consistently insisted would be faithfully delivered.

And he alone, no one else, would determine the destiny of this grand promise. But given his well-known passion for rectitude, and the inherenthonesty in his desire to right the wrongs of decades of terrible governance(the worst being 1999-2015), Buharileaves the perception of a genuine leader who would not want to see the promise of change blown away in the long run, let alone just as swiftly as it was made.

In that sense, the motto of the Boy Scoutreadily lends itself as a cautionary guide. This President must “be prepared,”because as he himself can see, danger looms very early in the life of his administration. If ever anything exists that has shown thus far that there’s no pretence to severely hurting his promise of change in its most vital artery, it is the judicial branch of government, that branch whose most visible symbol of a blindfolded lady with a sword in one hand and scales in the other gives the ostensible impression of dispensing justice in the interest of justice. But in reality the outcome of its intervention, more often than not, has been a potential threat to the well-being of the society.

At the apex of this branch is the Supreme Court, adour, supposedlyregimented institution with a dubious façade of impenetrability which only serves to mock its folly. Yes, Buhariknows what he is talking about when he asserts at every given opportunity that in this historic task of wheeling the business of governance off impunity, and toward the direction of transparency and accountability, the judiciary is a “major headache.”

Although touted as the “the last hope of the common man,” Nigeria’s judiciary as conspicuously epitomised by the Supreme Court, is indeed the ultimate bodyguard of society’s biggest crooks.

How else does one respond when, even in the exclusive club of the learned folks, there are growing whispers among the discerning senior members of the Bar that most of thejudgments that have issued from this court in recent times are nothing but a devastating blow to the Buhari government’s effort at reining in the impunity and corruption that have for long bedeviled the conduct of elections in Nigeria.

For example, in states such as Rivers, AkwaIbomand Delta, and evenin most of the South East states where no honest person or group can claim to witness any election in its proper sense, where elections were marred with violence and massive rigging became the order of the day, Nigeria’s retrograde Supreme Court has returned verdicts which, for both the learned and the unlearned, further authorises, recommends, promotes and reinforces the notorious culture of electoral malpractice.

It doesn’t matter which party it affects, some governorship and legislative elections ought to have been nullified and a re-run ordered. It’s so shocking that despite the overwhelming evidence oflarge-scale rigging and violence, nothing in those judgments recommended punishment for such gross acts criminality.

The lesson from theSupreme Court’s decisions is this: As a contestant in an election, make the election a do-or-die affair. Slash, burn, kill and maim as many as try to block your path to being declared winner. In fact, write the results in your bedroom, ensure that you are pronounced the victor by an equally diminished electoral umpire (INEC), and then counsel your opponent to take the enlightened path of going to court, knowing that in the end, the matter will land at our supreme court of injustice where it will be cleared of all doubts and resolved in your favour.

Then you can organise a carnival procession of your supporters across the state, followed by a thanksgiving service at a stadium to celebrate a stolen mandate. Simple as that.

Furthermore, the signal from this court offers an immense ray of hope to the big thieves in the society, and those being interrogated as well as the accused facing trial in the multi-billion dollar Dasukigate scandal. They will now have no reason whatsoever to fret, knowing full well that whenever the matter snakes its way up to the highest court of the land, there will be no shortage of complaisant judges in the chamber.

Lest anyone be deceived, in their effort to completely scuttle the change that is gradually creeping in, diehard conservatives and agents of the status quo are already counting on the judiciary to help preserve entrenched interests.

Justice Ayo Salami, thewell-persecuted former president of the court of appeal in President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, one to whom you can ascribe anything but flippancy, has already dissected the character of the Nigerian judiciary. Speaking on the sub-theme, Eradicating Corruption in the Nigerian Judiciary, at the 2015 annual lecture of the Nigerian National Merit Award, the eminent jurist observed ruefully: “The problem with the Nigerian judiciary is that some dishonourable people not cut out to be judges got into the system and after that made it to the highest level of their judicial careers.” No sane mind will dismiss that statement in the light of what is happening especially at the Supreme Court.

Salami goes on to advise that to tame corruption in the judiciary, the place tobegin is the appointment of judges. One can’t but agree with him.And Buhari has said if we don’t kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria. One can’t also but agree with him. But for us to kill corruption Buhari must start identifying progressive lawyers and judges to be appointed to the supreme court – learned men and women with indubitable track record of judicial activism – to replace the bunch (when their time is due) who dish out funny judgments whose reasons will be given at a future date under the “ruse of law.”

Unless he does this, the cause of change will not be helped.

Godwin Onyeacholem is a journalist. He can be reached on gonyeacholem@gmail.com. [myad]

Southwest is gradually caving in to political conquistadors. Many of our politicians are now acting like vassals to a resurgent powerful political Mafia. This group had once faded into oblivion; but it is now back, controlling the agenda of the seat of power. It is plotting to dominate power for a long time such that anything standing in the way must be crushed. That is why within eight months of the present administration, rule of law has slipped into coma while democracy is gradually on its way to recession.

Indeed, the infamous Ekitigate is just an item in a wider script of power play. It is an elaborate template and the hawks working on this template are not taking prisoners.  Some of these plans are targeted at total annihilation of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the suppression of the opposition within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Individuals who are perceived to be nursing future ambition to occupy Aso Rock in contradistinction to their agenda now risk possible onslaught. The signs are not only just there, the manifestations are also very real. This is jungle politics.

According to a popular Yoruba saying, “The water beetle that is dancing on the water surface is not just doing so without a purpose; there is a drummer beneath the water beating the drum to create the melody.”  As funny as this scenario looks, it somewhat suits the latest resurgence of the over-flogged issues surrounding the June 21, 2014 Ekiti State Governorship Election. There is certainly no smoke without fire and apparently, Mr. Tope Aluko, popularly known as TKO in the Ekiti political circles, is just a pawn in a political crude game. He allowed himself to be led into it for selfish interest. But Aluko is not acting alone in this latest but not strange voyage into EkitiGate.

Unfortunately for Aluko, he seems incapable of seeing through the overall script. The power game is certainly far beyond his comprehension. It is a political ponzi scheme – the schemers have succeeded in procuring a man who is ready to sacrifice his honour and family name for a mess of pottage. Ekiti people are known for their dignity, honour and the protection of family values. An Ekiti man will do everything to defend his family name. But for Aluko to openly admit to perjury is certainly an exception. He did not care about the future of his children. No responsible parent will contemplate such ignoble action.

Although a major reprieve for TKO is that the Mafia through its fronts may have guaranteed him a no-perjury conviction as long as he continues to play ball, yet that in itself is a burden to his political future. Poor Aluko has no clue about the identity of this Mafia. He is certainly not relating with the group directly; it is an extended complex game that even the major actors may not know where it will end. One can only pity Aluko because whatever he gets from this venture will still not be sufficient to secure his political future.

It is understandable that Governor Ayodele Fayose is a major target as he continues to unsettle the hawks with his outspokenness. He is now a leading voice in the land, challenging the excesses of Aso Rock. It is not unexpected if he has been marked for whatever agenda the Mafia may have, while EkitiGate is being reworked in a bid to achieve the unthinkable. Recall the smuggling of the Doctrine of Necessity into the Supreme Court in the case of Wike vs INEC. They are also thinking in that direction and working on something sinister. But the present Chief Justice of Nigeria is not seen as someone ready to sacrifice his hard-earned years of meritorious service to his fatherland. He has just a few times left and must have resisted some wicked overtures to compromise justice. So using the judiciary to hunt Fayose may not work.

We are in a season of political uncertainties where the rule of the President is higher than the rule of law! We currently risk fascism, but for people like Fayose who are talking truth to power. With the exception of Ebunolu Adegboruwa and a tiny few, the human rights community has simply gone completely numb in Nigeria. One may now be compelled to accept the notion that the capacity to defend democracy and the rights of the oppressed is an inspiration that could be derived or compromised. It is like a spirit which can come in and go out. So some individuals who once possessed this spirit, acting as the “conscience of the nation” might have failed to sustain it.  Hitherto unknown Nigerians are now standing up to defend the rule of law.

Again for the record, the Ekiti June 21, 2014 governorship election was conducted devoid of rigging and manipulations. There is one truth about that election which cannot be taken away: it is the most covered and monitored single election by local and foreign observers because of the civil society pedigree and connection of former Governor Kayode Fayemi. An interesting addition is that, many of the observers came to Ekiti with smart electronic devices, prepared to record any form of electoral malpractice. They were present in all the 16 Local Government Areas and moved round freely without intimidation and harassment. Ekiti was a major test case for them. And in the end, there was no single report of indictment in that election; it was adjudged free, fair and credible.

I may not be privy to the quantum of money raised for that election by Governor Fayose, but the allegation of $37 million may not be different from the phantom $2.1billion arms money alleged to have been shared out to PDP leaders. Whereas, all the charges in the courts against all the alleged offenders so far when added together is nowhere near N50 billion, as against over N500 billion cooked up for media frenzy. This is certainly not justifying graft or exonerating anyone. But we must point out the recklessness with which figures are bandied around to crucify people. $37 million allegedly spent on Ekiti election is a good sensational script that will alarm the unsuspecting public anytime. There will be many more figures to come. It is a season of drama and aberration.

On the alleged militarization of the election, it was an open secret that security report had suspected the infiltration of Ekiti by State Boys from Osun to wreck havoc. Again, Fayose never hid the fact that if tight security was guaranteed, he would win the election. There could have been some measure of affinity in terms of conversation between some members of the then ruling party and the security officials but certainly not to compromise the poll.  It was only strategic for the security personnel to adopt extra measures like using special tags to beat the likelihood of thugs using army uniforms to perpetuate evil. The concern was rife then of an attempt by area boys to compromise the security system. However, the “Tale by Aluko” is giving everything a new colouration to justify a hatchet job, even though not new.

Fortunately, the reports by various election observers did commend all the security agencies for ensuring peace during the election, which significantly aided high voter turnout. The truth about the story of June 21, 2014 will still be told in full by those who, for political and personal reasons, still disagree with the outcome of the poll. We can still remember the contrived political innovation called “photochromic,” blamed for the defeat of the APC in that election. Added to this false invention was the Theory of Stomach Infrastructure. Yet, nothing can ever override the truth.

Unfortunately, the same people who criticized the use of soldiers for Ekiti election have suddenly seen no reason to object to the same for Kogi and Bayelsa governorship elections. I believe they will also come with different reasons why it is now justified to deploy soldiers. They are full of inconsistencies and contradictions. The plan to unsettle Ekiti, of which Aluko is now a major player, is all about 2019 projections. From a close observation and in the manner this issue has been syndicated so far in the media, it is not far-fetched to know that this script has been re-jigged to serve an intended purpose. Sadly, a segment of the South West youths on social media recruited to sustain this contrived narrative cannot reason beyond a futile obsession for a political change that has since lost its taste. They trended EkitiGate on Twitter with all vigour as if it was capable of redeeming the battered image of the 2016 budget. They even ignored the invasion of Dalori by Boko Haram and would not comment on President Muhammadu Buhari not visiting Maiduguri to empathize with the people. What a sad commentary for our nation!

Although it is not yet clear where this matter is headed in the end, but one thing is sure: the truth will eventually prevail. However, I urge that we do not joke with the people who are desperate with powers and who think they can do and undo regardless of the Constitution. We must take solace in the fact that power is transient and this phase too will pass away.  Until then, the new addition to our political lexicon: EkitiGate, is more than unsettling the “Fountain of Knowledge.”

Many political observers are yet to grapple with the reality of what is gradually unfolding, especially in the Southwest. The hawks are currently doing everything possible to equally whittle down the influence of the Lion of Bourdillon-Bola Tinubu-by saturating the APC with decampees from other parties.  The upcoming board appointments will further reveal several misgivings. Take it or leave it, the game for 2019 has commenced in earnest and the battle line is gradually being drawn. In essence, the bigger picture is more than just EkitiGate.

Ariyo-Dare Atoye, a member of Shadow Cabinet of Nigeria (SCN) contributes this piece from Ward 8, Igbara Odo-Ekiti, Ekiti State – aristotle001us@yahoo.com. [myad]

Catholic priests in Nigeria have always captured the public imagination, some of them have served in government positions, some were prominent in the fight and struggle for democracy, some of them have proved their mettle as poets, teachers, musicians, social critics, and public affairs commentators, but Rev. Fr. Ejike Camillus Anthony Ebenezer Mbaka is a cut above the rest, not necessarily in terms of intellect or persona, but in terms of how he has been able to use the pulpit to acquire a rock star status.

It is therefore not surprising that everything about him is with a touch of the histrionic.  This is exactly what happened when he was transferred, last week, from a parish where he had served for 20 years: from Christ the King Parish, GRA Enugu, to Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, Umuchigbo, Njinike,  Enugu.  Characteristically, this radical priest and social activist turned what should be a routine administrative posting by his Bishop into a melodrama and an assault on the authority of the Church.  You would think he had been sentenced to a jail term, the way he whined and wept and appealed to sympathy.

“I’m going to suffer because I have no place to put my head. I am going to suffer because I have no place to keep the Adoration Ministry’s assets…The Adoration Ministry is passing through suffering right now even though I’ve accepted that it is the will of God. Is the will of God through suffering? It is a mega suffering. The quantum of the assets of the Adoration Ministry is the only thing I am bothered about for now. Where am I going to keep them? I am going to stay in one small room that has only one small bed, one small table, little toilet and bathroom. So where am I going to keep all the Adoration assets? “ I couldn’t believe that this was a Catholic Priest.

His pain was so palpable. He even took a shot at the Church: “I won’t fight anybody or even dream of battling anybody. If anybody allows the devil to use him, the same that advised you to make a mistake will laugh at you when you cry over the error.” This was a clear suggestion that the devil was using his boss, the Diocesan Bishop of Enugu, His Lordship Calistus Onaga, against him, Mbaka and the Adoration Ministry. Rev Fr. Mbaka further spoke with a touch of vanity about how he single-handedly built the Christ the King Parish, Enugu, with proceeds from the sale of his music albums. This priest is certainly special. He objects to suffering even if the Lord Jesus Christ, whose disciple he is, is the embodiment of sacrifice and suffering. He talks about assets in a capitalistic sense, and yet his reputation rests on his commitment to the poor. He finally says he accepts the “suffering”, sounding like a victim.

Mbaka’s melodrama was nothing short of an act of protest and incitement.  It didn’t take long before a mob-like group trooped to the GRA, Enugu to help him move his things to the new church where it is said he will be an assistant priest.  If his followers had laid their hands on the Diocesan Bishop, only God knows what they would have done to him for allegedly demoting their hero. It also didn’t take long before the spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress (APC), South-East Caucus, Osita Okechukwu issued a statement alleging that Mbaka was being victimized because he is pro-Buhari and pro-APC.

Okechukwu‘s intervention was a needless busybody act. He only stopped short of asking the Diocesan Bishop to reverse himself or get labeled as an enemy of the government of the day. Nor did it take long before the Catholic Church also put its feet down, stating clearly that no priest is above the Church. Mbaka definitely needed that reality check. But he had succeeded in politicizing his transfer and dragging the Catholic Church into mainstream, partisan politics with the Church holding the short end of the stick.

It is perhaps for this reason that the Catholic Bishop of Abuja Metropolitan See, Cardinal John Onaiyekan once asked that Rev. Fr. Mbaka should be sanctioned. He actually accused him of talking “rubbish” when he openly condemned President Goodluck Jonathan and insisted that the electorate should vote for Muhammadu Buhari, then Presidential candidate of the APC, who according to him, was destined to win the 2015 Presidential election. “I do not believe in my mind that the way things are in Nigeria, any Catholic priest has the mandate to decide which of the political contestants should be voted for… I don’t believe a priest should be doing that…If he was in my archdiocese, I will have sanctioned him long ago for the kind of utterances he makes.” Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama. President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), also similarly disowned him. Even with those protestations, Mbaka remained untouchable. He is on record as having declared in a secessionist mood, for example, that the sovereignty of Nigeria is not sacrosanct. “If we must be one Nigeria, let it be one Nigeria, but if it can’t be one Nigeria, let us divide…let us tell ourselves the truth.” He has also since the 2015 elections, made a high profile visit to the Presidential Villa to see President Buhari. He was actually shown arriving in a private jet, waving to the crowd as if he was on a Papal visit to the seat of power!  How did one priest, out of over 30 million Nigerian Catholics, become so powerful and untouchable?

Rev Fr. Mbaka’s seeming invincibility lies in his significance and relevance. His Ministry is a loud comment on the relationship between the Church and the congregation. Mbaka is the founder and Spiritual Director of a Ministry within the Catholic Church known as Adoration Ministry Enugu Nigeria (AMEN).  Gifted, creative and clever; he is without any doubt a liberation theologian. He runs a prophetic church, a church that believes strongly in the power of the Eucharist, and which in every sense is a church of the poor. His source of inspiration must be those liberation theologians and other radical priests who have proven that for the church to be relevant, it must be relevant to the interests, concerns and expectations of the congregation, particularly the underprivileged poor.

More than any other catholic priest in Nigeria, Mbaka has taken the Catholic Church beyond the confines of liberal conservatism to the ordinary man in the market place. He speaks the poor man’s language, he appeals to their imagination. He is the bridge between the Pentecostal churches and the Catholic Church in Nigeria. He has mastered the tricks, the rhetoric, the antics and the persona of the former, and he applies this with a touch of sassiness that is original.  He urges members of his ministry to “Pray Until Something Happens” (PUSH). In an overtly religious and superstitious country like Nigeria, there is never a shortage of persons who are ready to push until the impossible happens.

He organizes vigils titled “E no dey again”. That is precisely what the people want to hear. They want to hear that problems, disease, unemployment- “e no dey again!”.  Mbaka also has a Foundation, the Multi-Life Savers Foundation. Note the emphasis on the saving of lives! He pays hospital bills, he gives out cars, he builds houses for people, he pays school fees, he sponsors events. He sings. He dances. He is not your typical Catholic priest. He is rich. He talks about assets. Other priests go to him for financial assistance. He is an all-round entrepreneur in church garments. His Ministry performs miracles, signs and wonders. He makes the lame walk, he opens the eyes of the blind, he cures diseases; he spreads wealth and opportunities. He creates jobs. He provides hope. With all this, Fr. Mbaka is far ahead of his bosses within the Catholic hierarchy. Persons of other faiths and Christian denominations troop to his Ministry to seek spiritual counseling.  Politicians seek his endorsement. He controls the mind of multitudes. The Catholic Church is probably in need of reinvention, and the seeds of that process may well lie in the example and eclecticism of Mbaka and his likes in other parts of the Catholic world.

The plain truth is that the average church-goer today is looking for something different which the orthodox churches and their mode of worship do not offer. The poor who make up the congregation are as impatient as the politicians who have made them poor. They want immediate salvation, practical solutions to their problems; they want their blessings here and now, not in a world to come. Mbaka and the Pentecostal pastors understand this and so they bring the church closer to the people’s needs. But there is a flipside and it is hubris.

Hubris is risky and pernicious. It is what makes Fr. Mbaka appear so contradictory. It is what has distanced him from his original vows as a priest, making him talk of cash and assets as if he were an investor on Broad Street.  It is what makes him complain of suffering and see his transfer as a punishment, rather than as an opportunity for further evangelism of The Word. He must have started out as a humble priest, but today, he has mastered the use of the media for self-projection and he is not contented with being a priest, he is now enjoying the life of a celebrity, hugging the limelight, seeking personal glory. He runs a ministry of miracles, of wonders and signs and he sees visions of possible assassinations, either of himself or the politicians that he supports. No one should be surprised if this Pentecostal Catholic priest goes about with bodyguards. He shares this hubris with many other religious figures who seek to share power with politicians and co-govern Nigeria. They see visions about everything: from elections to diseases and foreign exchange rates. They have created a New Order under which they command the electorate, political parties and governments.

It is this hubris that has blinded Fr. Mbaka to the fact that the souls to be won for Christ are not only in GRA, Enugu, but in all places as well. His transfer to a smaller parish should remind him of the essence of his priestly vows: humility, simplicity, obedience, sacrifice, as well as commitment to the good of the church rather than individual heroism, values which can truly make him a priest in the Order of Melchizedek. Let him therefore, suffer if he must, and let his suffering be a blessing upon the poor and the Church, and if he as much as whimpers again, let him be posted post-haste to Sambisa forest, where the poor are in urgent need of miracles. [myad]