Catholic priest , Rev Fr Evaristus Offor defends Fr Mbaka

The spiritual wellness of Nigeria depends on our national culture.

The late Pope St John Paul 11 once told a gathering of youths that “culture is a manifestation of the human spirit. It is a confirmation of their humanity. Man creates culture and through culture forms himself. Culture is the common good of the nation…” Hence, good Nigerians must rise to work for a better society based on promotion and protection of all our fundamental rights via all-inclusive political participation.

Our politicians have kept God and his virtues in the national polity and that is why some great men of God are clamoring for democracy dividends and respect to divinocratic principles of governance. So what is important today is to claim with great courage the rights due to us as a nation, the right to God, to love, to freedom of conscience, to our culture and to our national heritage-our heroes past. We have really derailed from our good past due to bad leadership, unbridled corruption and near-total anarchy all over the nation. Hence, to ban Christian truths, which for centuries have formed an intimate part of our national life, from the presence of children is to begin the destruction of their national identity. We must speak out whenever our politicians derail from their sworn oath to uphold the sanctity of our culture. Our priests are challenged to question certain political madness of our power-drunken politicians who have caused us a lot of harm, yet do not want us to speak out. Cardinal Wyszynski of Poland once told the ruling oppressors, “woe unto you rulers who are trying to win over their people by fear and persecution. Whenever the rulers lord it over their subjects or whenever the masses are frightened into submission-they diminish their own authority. They cheapen the cultural life of the nation and erode the value of all working life”.

It is therefore under the above stimulations that this writer wishes to clear some facts concerning the vocation of the priesthood, the prophetic outpourings of Fr Ejike Mbaka and the Nigerian political situation before this year’s polls.

The Nigerian political situation has reached such a dangerous level that every right thinking person should sleep no more but begin to ask some salient political and spiritual questions as to where our country is heading. Our situation has reached a boiling point that our priests should stop sitting on the political fence thinking and praying only for miracles while our politicians in power continue to meddle without vision and purpose. It is therefore under this canopy that this work is written in support of the prophetic message of Rev Fr Ejike Mbaka of the Enugu Adoration Ministry regarding the call for social change in the country. If any Nigerian opens up his or her mouth to say that we really don’t need change, that person should be sent to the mental hospital for proper examination. Adding my voice in solidarity with Fr Mbaka on the call for change, let us look at God’s attitude and the Church’s mind on priests’ political participation. There is no doubt that the crucified God is really a God without a country, and without class. But he is the God of the poor, of the oppressed, of the humiliated.

The Vatican 11 Council of 1962-65 has nice and progressive words for the prophetic evangelization of the priest, maintaining that the worries and hope of the Church are the worries and hope of the poor and the oppressed in society. Indeed, the Church’s relationship with the world was the subject especially of the Pastoral Constitution ( Gaudium et Spes). The watershed pastoral engagement of the Catholic bishops brought out hidden truths about the integral nature of evangelization proving that salvation is not an abstract category outside, as it were, of history and time, but that it comes from God and ought to permeate the whole of man and the whole history of men and lead them freely into the Kingdom of God, so that at last, “God may be all in all”. The Catholic Priesthood, which has its root in the priesthood of Jesus Christ, has many important roles to play in society ranging primarily from an evangelistic prophetism to a socio-political mandate for the liberation of the poor from the clutches of oppression and impoverishment. Representing the Church, the Catholic priest who enjoys the fullness of Christ’s priestly regalia must not abandon the masses in their hour of greatest need, but must show great interest in helping them reach a level of human, Christian dignity compatible with real citizenship. Hence, the priest should not pretend to be neutral in the cloud of the great social struggle that has reduced two-thirds of the world’s population to subhuman conditions. If a priest is not on the side of the poor as his Master, then he is on the side of the unrepentant oppressor and tyrant. Archbishop Camara sees a Church that had become so complacent that it left so much to be desired in terms of assuming the position of a nonviolent rebel in the face of oppression and injustice, and recalls the prophetic role of the Virgin Mary and her revolutionary hymn. He said: “I am quite sure that certain passages in the Gospel could be censored. For instance, the Magnificat is a revolutionary hymn; it is disturbing, it is serious, it is agitation! It speaks out against the established order, against the rich and powerful!”

It is therefore under this canopy that this writer wants to let the world know that Rev Fr Ejike Mbaka, a Catholic priest of Enugu as every other human being is a political animal as the great philosopher, Aristotle once said. Following some crabby and politically-minded venoms meted on the man of God for speaking his mind on the political misfiring in the country, this writer wants to teach with a strong conviction that Catholic priests are naturally called not only to preach the gospel, but have a divine mandate as prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah and others to build and destroy, to plant and to uproot evil in society caused by political elite and their collaborators. Every priest should be put in the shoes of great prophets who carried out their prophetic evangelization beyond the pulpits or confines of their personages as Christ did. Prophets such as the late Pope John Paul 11, Rev Fr Popieluszko Jerzy of Poland, Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Rev Martin Luther King Jnr of the US, spent their time and energy fighting to enthrone justice, equality, equity, peace, harmony and an egalitarian society not as partisan politicians, but men of God with political consciousness. Therefore, for Fr Mbaka to have called for socio-political change in the country was not out of theological or moral sync. As a great prophet of our time who also knows the demands of our Lord Jesus who not only preached the Word of God, but worked assiduously for the integral development of the people, Fr Mbaka has not failed to repeat the political response of the Master to the politics of death perpetrated by Herod when he referred to him as wicked fox.

The priest as a good shepherd who loves and cares for his flock must not simply sit on the political fence and watch his flocks’ chilling and emotional cries of despair, oppression, repression and poverty and for help in the midst of other savage social injustice end in vain. This is not the first time that Fr Mbaka has asked political rulers to lead well by providing security, food, shelter, jobs to their subjects. Who should blame Fr Mbaka for asking for the wellness of school children under the siege of monsters called Boko Haram? Who should blame a man of God who calls on a ruling national government to fix federal roads especially in the South East where innocent blood is shed on a daily basis due to avoidable accidents? If not by the grace and mercy of God, this writer would have been in the morgue due to a ghastly accident at the Onyeama Mine of the Enugu-Onitsha express road where people die every day due to fixable bad roads. How many Igbo people have died on the Enugu-Onitsha express road including priests and for too long nothing has happened? In fact things are not the way they ought to be politically in this nation, and woe betides that priest who does not rise in condemnation of the federal government’s lack of leadership purpose and visionary integration of democratic dividends. Besides, it is wrong for people to criticize active priests who play their prophetic role in society. It is never morally or spiritually wrong for priests to engage in national questions, which affect those they lead. Can there be a nation without priests and their flock? It is perfectly right for Fr Mbaka to call for change in Nigeria, a country that has been blessed by God, yet is on her knees for too long begging for progress. A country in the mould of El Salvador where once lived a politically conscious Catholic archbishop, Oscar Romero, who died in the defense of the poor masses. He tried to live his life as a Christian and as a chief shepherded of Christ’s flock in his country, El Salvador.

In his book “Church and State”, another politically minded Catholic priest Fr John Odey captures the priest’s activism in a country which was darkened by the silent sorrow of the oppressed and persecuted peasantry; in a country which was soaked by the tears of widows and mothers whose husbands and sons disappeared for political reasons; in a country where hunger for food, land and shelter was the pervasive daily experience of the majority of the citizenry; in a country where labourers had neither rights nor the right to bargain for their rights; …in a country where the oligarchy wanted no social change and violently repressed any peaceful attempt for a change. In that country, Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero chose to make himself a sacrificial lamb by taking the identity of the poor, the tormented, the despised and the forgotten in order to raise them from the dungeon of oppression and despair and give them hope.

Recently, The Sun Newspaper of January 22, 2015 reported how the Catholic Church of Congo backed anti-Kabila protests. It reported that the Catholic Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo threw its weight behind protests against President Joseph Kabila extending his rule. The Church called on people to peacefully oppose his move to delay presidential elections until a census is held. Cardinal Sinn galvanized the people of Philippines to overthrow the evil regime of President Ferdinand Marcos. Will Nigeria, therefore be different in the face of the same political despair, economic quagmire and social and religious unrest? Shall a man of God keep quiet while some militants from the South South openly threaten war if their son President Jonathan loses this year’s presidential elections, and nobody called anybody to order? But today, hundreds of Igbo youths are languishing inside prisons for agitating for freedom. For expressing his personal opinion, Fr Mbaka’s life has been put on the line, while trying to protect his suppressed flock by some political hawks in Coal City. The enemy has used both the media and political stooges to defame the good name and salvific work of Fr Mbaka and other priests, but their good works have continued to save and promote them. Fr Mbaka is a courageous young priest who has refused to be cowed by intimidation and callous victimization of the enemy of “this wicked generation, by political jobbers and cultic operators”. In spite of the persecution of the Church and his Adoration Ministry as well as the killing of his flock during the Adoration saga, he has continued to wax stronger and more powerful with the promptings of the Holy Spirit and support of even politicians who flock there to receive anointing for progress and success. His socio-political and economic agenda has influenced other priests who have learnt to live with the conviction that a religion which fails to address the social, economic, moral and political conditions which give all privileges to the few but reduced the generality of the people to subhuman conditions could only appeal to the rich and the powerful and not to the poor and the less privileged who are the special friends of Jesus.

What about the emotional venoms of a columnist, Amanze Obi, who displayed his personal anger on Fr Mbaka for touching the tail of his former governor, Chief Ikedi Ohakim, who was ousted from office through the instrumentality of the Catholic Church in Imo State for daring a Catholic priest? I was saddened by Amanze’s article titled “Why are critics raging?” which I found very repugnant and irreligious of a disclaimer who claims to be a Catholic. Obi said that he is embarrassed by Fr Mbaka’s truth and clarion call, lamenting that; “In the Catholic Church, we do not know our priests to be frivolous and worldly. The laity know and see them, as their spiritual guide.” In the same vein, Ngwu Emeka writing inspirationally in The Sun of Tuesday, January 20, 2015 logically diffused the illogicalities and emotionally personalized anger of a disappointed government apologist thus: “I know it with good authority that Amanze Obi served as commissioner under one of the worst regimes in Imo State recently. To be precise, he served the regime of Ikedi Ohakim, which was roundly rejected by the good people of Imo State in the last general elections. One was, therefore, not surprised the way and manner Amanze Obi reacted to Mbaka’s prophetic message…The question, therefore is how has Mbaka become frivolous and worldly because he delivered a prophetic message packed and delivered with truth and reality for which most Nigerians are aware and appreciate?”

I have been following Amanze’s political commentaries and no doubt he is more PDP than a Catholic that he claims to be, and that is why he threw all reason and spiritual excellence to the blues trying to protect his parochial insipidity to the detriment of the glories of heaven. This writer is greatly worried by dirty comments of some political sycophants who in the cause of defending political madness of their masters as well as securing the source of their livelihood have sold their precious souls to the demon. Besides, Fr Mbaka is not a-man-alone-social crusader among the clerics in the urgent call for a change in our polity. Another fiery Catholic priest, the Spiritual Director of Canaanland Adoration Ministry a.k.a E-Dey Work Catholic Centre, Nnobi of Anambra State, Rev Fr Magnus Ebere SDV recently added his voice on the hard biting national debate. Writing on the priest in The Sun of January 25, 2015 David Onwuchekwa quotes the reasons for the priest’s call for President Jonathan not to run for another tenure. He said that President Jonathan had failed and would have no moral justification to ask Nigerians to renew his mandate when the Chibok girls are still in the forest crying out their eyes for freedom from Boko Haram insurgents for the past nine months. Commenting on the non-partisanship of Catholic priests, Fr Magnus insists on the socio-political duties of the priest, claiming that “but as a priest, we are the voice of the voiceless, the voice of the widows, the voice of the poor and the voice of the downtrodden. And we must say the truth no matter whose ox is gored.” The priest is angry with Jonathan that thousands of Igbo are killed in the north without the president protecting them. He is also embittered as most of us that President Jonathan had done nothing for the neglected Igbo nation, pointing out too many bad roads and the politics of second River Niger, etc.

Finally, many observers of this man of God rightly inform us of the worthy life of Fr Mbaka, a prophet who does what he says unlike many pharisaic pastors who preach one thing and do the opposite in order to curry monetary gratifications. Fr Mbaka is not like those commercialized prophets and pastors whose pontifical gyrations end only at the different government quarters with bursting financial pockets. It is a public knowledge that Fr Mbaka’s generous spirit has no equal among his colleagues and even among moneybags. He is known for his unquantifiable philanthropic, charitable heart of gold and amiable grace of compassion to millions of poor and needy masses in the like of Jesus and Mother Theresa of Calcutta. In fact, Fr Mbaka’s lifestyle has become a gospel to many people who have come across him. He gives without looking back. God uses him miraculously to touch many dejected souls across the globe. His preaching resembles those of the Master who travels everywhere looking out for both the poor in spirit and poor in body too. Fr Mbaka single-handedly sponsors indigent students’ education, pays hospital bills for thousands of poor families, and provides essentials of life to millions of less privileged, which our different governments could not do in spite of billions and trillions of funds in their coffers. It is, therefore, an utmost and sheer jealousy and callous mindedness of the Anglican bishop of Enugu, Chukwuma to have accused the morally robust Fr Mbaka of being financially induced by the opposition to tell the world the truth about the present visionless government at the national centre. It was Bishop Chukwuma of the Anglican bishop who sold his soul to the devil during the adoration saga when he defended the supposed murderers of the worshippers. We know him as “bishop-governor” for his selfish and greedy political gerrymandering in and outside the ecclesiastical enclave.

Frankly speaking, Fr Mbaka’s integral pastoral engagement is a clarion call on all priests especially the much respected Catholic priests to be politically and economically conscious of their vocation, which should be spread beyond the enclave of the sanctuary to the temporal via the provision of physical, emotional and socio-economic wellness of their flock as explicitly underscored by the Second Vatican Council. For instance, in Section 7 of the Synod of Bishops number 7, the wise clerics had this wisdom to express vividly for our priests to truly understand their mission on earth: “The proper missions entrusted by Christ to the priest, as to the Church, is not of the political, economic or social order, but of the religious order (cf. GS 42); yet, in the pursuit of his ministry, the priest can contribute greatly to the establishment of a more just secular order, especially in places where the human problems of injustice and oppression are more serious.” Is Nigeria not a place where countless injustice, marginalization, victimization, corruption, electoral thievery, assassinations and all forms of atrocities do not breathe frustrations, hopelessness, doom and deaths? Are priests not justified when they speak out against such social and moral anomies perpetrated by our conscienceless and greedy politicians? Should priests keep mum while politicians steal our heritage and public funds to the detriment of those who pay their tithes and give offerings in the Church?

Hence, Fr Mbaka and a few other prophetic priests ought to be given a pat on the back for rising up to the biddings of Christ and the Vatican 11 Council with regard to the protection and promotion of the Faithful’s fundamental human rights which our Lord defended even with his own dignity and life. The Vatican Fathers’ words are justifying elements for priests to go into the world of the poor and dejected in society. They also said that the word of the Gospel, which he proclaims in the name of Christ and the Church, and the effective grace of sacramental life, which he administers should free man from his personal and social egoism and foster among men conditions of justice, which would be a sign of the love of Christ present among us” (cf. GS 58). Who will therefore blame priests who rebuke like Jesus did those politicians who are putting the fire of executive rascality that melts to the blues legislative vitality and judicial independence and steadfastness? Who will tell our politicians that automatic tickets, consensus candidacy, imposition of candidates and love for power elongation are from the devil? Who will tell the Inspector General of Police that it is wrong to ambush our national legislators in their hallowed chambers and illegally remove police details of a sitting Speaker? Is Nigeria not a banana state where life has become so short, brutish and frustrating? What is happening to our youths who are now dying in their numbers in search for the golden egg in foreign lands? Who is frustrating them? Who will tell them that Nigerian children need free and qualitative education? Who will tell them to give us steady power supply, security and employment? Who will save us from the rampaging Boko Haram, heartless kidnappers, callous armed robbers and other criminalities? Who will tame our enemies on our roads-the police, the custom and the likes? Who will teach our politicians the need to get more Mandelas in our political field? Who will encourage and spur on our electorate to protect their votes as well as ensure that the ruling party and its allies in INEC, Police, Army and other para-military agencies do not rig the 2015 elections? Finally, who will save us from the impending danger of 2015? Do you not sense any serious danger in the post 2015 elections especially if they are rigged or if Jonathan wins again? If we have hundreds of priests in the form of Fr Mbaka in all the states of the country, will it not be possible to bring the much needed justice and peace in the country? So we are dire in need of more Fr Mbakas and serious prayers in the country if we really want to remain one and united country where justice and peace, truth, fairness, tolerance, equity and equality shall reign supreme. We have so many silent priests who are not happy with the way things are moving on in this country, but cannot come out beyond their confines of their pulpits and ecclesiastical fiefdom. Therefore, no sane person has the moral right to blame a prophet who warns us of impending danger. This is a priest who has the stamp of divinity to inform Nigerians the will of God as it concerns our politics. For instance, in the on-going debate on Mbaka’s oracle, one of our greatest journalists of all time had this to say: “The recanting is too drastic to have been done by his own will. I believe a higher power worked on him. It can only be God”. This is a great journalist who does not give a damn in saying the truth and does not believe in pecuniary reasons for his journalistic work, whereas a great many dance the tune of selfish and greedy steps of death. So, the time for social and political revolution is now. Let us ensure that the elections are not only free, fair and credible, but seen to be so, because we are sitting on a dangerous keg of fire, which the Boko Haram has started. This is the time for us Christians and people of good conscience to repeat what Martin Luther King did. As he went out to the streets singing, “We shall overcome” or as Puerto Rican Christians represented the via crucis on Good Friday, the spirituality or the Christology of liberation emerges. This is because; the positive relation between God’s Kingdom and man’s historical undertaking justifies us in understanding the former as a call to engage ourselves actively in the latter. The gospel invites and drives us to make concrete historical options and assures them eschatological permanence in so far as they represent the quality of human existence, which corresponds to the Kingdom. We can, therefore, within human history, engage with others in action, which is significant in terms of God’s redemptive purpose, of his announced and promised future Kingdom. May God bless a marriage put together by dishonest and human trafficking goaldiggers. We commend to your care oh Mother of our Saviour all the wrongs inflicted upon us by the ruling PDP after the return of our so-called home grown democracy and particularly during the last three years of exceptionally cruel insurgency, kidnapping, hostage taking and youth abandonment. These wrongs demand reparation especially the moral wrongs, which have been frequently mentioned during our daily Holy Masses and prayers for the Fatherland in distress and not second term bids.

Finally, according to Rev Fr Populieszko who was murdered by the Polish Police, he advised Polish people in the midst of political oppression and official manipulations not to “let the indisputable truth that a nation dies when it lacks valour, when it deceives itself, when it says that all is fine whilst tasting the opposite, when it shuts its eyes and is satisfied with half truths, be a warning to us.” So, Fr Ejike Mbaka, the indefatigable warrior of truth and justice wants only the best for the country. He is an impeccable man of integrity who cannot be tempted with filthy lucre of mammon like some mouthy and fake men of God. As a hero of the countless masses, he cannot be bought over directly or indirectly with things of like, rather he is the immeasurable giver of good things to humanity with a heart of gold and diamondic charity. One thing clear about him is that he is not afraid to look at those in power and tell them the truth– bitter as it may sound. Therefore, we must not throw away his prophetic call for change if we really love this country and want its progress based on peace and harmony.

*Rev Fr Offor Evaristus is of St Dominic’s, Obinagu Udi, Enugu

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