Insecurity: Silence of the Church no longer golden – Observers

The spate of killings across Nigeria, targeting clerics and their members has continued to attract attention within and outside the country.

…Say compromise with politicians killing the Church

…Urge clerics to emulate Martin Luther, others

Many observers have wondered why the leadership of the church in Nigeria has kept sealed lips over the massacres.

While some say that the Nigerian church may have waxed cold in the face of societal decay, some others allege that the closeness of clerics to politicians nowadays may have led to compromise.

Critics lament that a time when the church should be vibrant, it is close to death; a situation they say is very dangerous to the health of the country.

The political system seems to have so poisoned the church that clerics these days no longer speak out or speak up.

They are being accused of compromise. The Christian bodies are being invaded and divided. They no longer speak with one voice.

It has become normal these days to hear news about invasion of worship centres across the country by terrorists. Church leaders and congregants are killed routinely, yet, leading and influential clerics are keeping quiet.

Ahead of the general election, many clerics are being alleged to yield their pulpit to politicians to advertise their wares. Respected Church leaders no longer call the politicians to order.

In fact, it is the other way round. Politicians now dictate what some clerics say on the pulpit. Observers are saying that respected clerics must defend God and defend the Church, and that silence is no more golden.

In the midst of continued attack on the Church and killing of Church leaders and members across the country, clerics have remained silent.

Hence, it was not surprising when a certain rhetorical statement by Isaac Omolehin, the founder of The Word Assembly Churches, posited that Nigeria’s Christian community lacks a unifying spiritual father, insisting that leading pastors are only heads of their denominations.

Omolehin rhetorically raised the question about having the likes of Adeboye, Kumuyi, Oyedepo, among others speak for the Nigerian Church.

While some critics took it a step further by asking if it is difficult for Adeboye, Kumuyi, Oyedepo, and others to address a joint press conference on the killings happening across Nigeria.

“I would hear fathers and I ask myself, which father? Nigerian Christianity has no father. Nigerian Christianity has no father,” Omolehin said in the church’s YouTube post.

While many, especially the umbrella body of the church, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) cautions Omolehin; it is noteworthy that the cleric himself was responding to issues raised by a concerned citizen.

According to Omolehin, “Right now, Christianity in Nigeria has no father. And that’s why nobody is coming up to say anything. We have denominational fathers. They are not fathers of all.

“A person that will be our father cannot be a denominational person. He has to derobe himself of denominational doggedness and denominational extremism.

“Our father must be the father of all — the father of those who are in Roman Catholic, Methodist, Anglican, Apostolic.”

The Christian Association of Nigeria in a rebuttal cautioned Omolehin, over the YouTube post in a statement.

CAN expressed concern over what it described as unwarranted and divisive comments made by the cleric, warning that such statements could undermine unity within the Christian community.

“We state, in the clearest possible terms: these allegations are entirely false, unfounded, and deliberately misleading,” Daniel Okoh, CAN President, said in the statement.

It stated that the umbrella body would not tolerate statements capable of undermining the unity of the church.

CAN further urged clerics across denominations to refrain from making inflammatory remarks about fellow ministers, stressing that the Christian faith thrives on love, unity, and cooperation.

However, other senior clerics weigh in on the matter positing that the Nigerian Church truly need a unifying face and voice.

Emmanuel Udofia, former primate of the African Church, said it was necessary for Church leaders to speak against evil in the society and to correct bad leadership.

“That is why the Bible says that the Church is the light of the world. And light is associated with everything that is right and just,” Udofia said.

According to him, Church remains the light, which is associated with everything that has to do with goodness; and is represented by Jesus Christ and the Church leaders.

“So, it is the right of the Church leaders to speak against anything evil in the society.

“That is why the Church is there. Because the Church protects the interests of everyone in society, whether you are Christian or non-Christian,” Udofia added.

On whether the likes of Kumuyi, Adeboye, Oyedepo should jointly speak for the Church, the former primate of the African Church said; “Well, on that I will reserve my comments.”

However, he further said that some of the Church leaders have used their platform to address societal issues and might not have to jointly speak on same issue since CAN has the mandate to speak for the Church.

“But I think if they want to speak, they will speak only through CAN. And apart from that, they can now individually, as organisational leaders, as denominational leaders, they can now speak individually condemning the evil in the society. Which I thank God that some of them are doing.”

Charles T.O Ighele, General Superintendent and presiding Bishop, Holy Spirit Mission (The Happy Family Nation), told BusinessDay that there are four categories of Church leaders as far as involvement in national affairs are concerned.

The bishop classified the Church leaders based on their level of involvement in national issues. “The first category is made up of Church leaders who do not know what is happening in their nation,” he said.

According to Ighele, these class of leaders are either completely ignorant or uninterested in socio-political matters. He said that they are completely apolitical, and like it that way. According to Ighele, they just want to do “church work.”

The second group of Church leaders according to him are those who do not want to be treated the way Herod treated John The Baptist by ordering his execution for fighting injustice.

“Some who belong to this group are either afraid or just being careful. They never tell those in government any day that they are wrong.

“There is the third group. Those in this group speak truth to power and I know that we have many of them in Nigeria. Archbishop Benson Idahosa of blessed memory belonged to this group,” Ighele said.

He however, added that today, men of God like Bishop David Oyedepo, Bishop Kukah, Pastor Tunde Bakare and many other notable voices speak out when things are going the wrong way.