Open letter to Bishop Onah: Just before they mislead our chief evangelist

Before I started writing this letter, I did a bit of research. In saying this, I am reclining in my modest best, because I am aware that to become a professor, you would have obviously travelled the vast universe of knowledge, equipping yourself with both the worldly and the spiritual. You did not, therefore, become the Shepherd of our Lord’s flock just because you are handsome and eloquent. You came fully prepared.

My research, you might be surprised to know, was rather elementary. But I consider it quite important all the same; so important that I intentionally chose to start a task of this nature with it. It has to do with the names that God, in His infinite wisdom and Divine foresight, inspired your parents to give to you.

The first is your Igbo name, Igwebuike. It means that there is strength in numbers. It means that together, we are assured of victory and reward. We even have a proverb relating to this, which draws from the weakness of a broomstick and the strength we derive when we gather its weak fingers into a bunch. No one ever breaks bunched broomsticks.

The second is your baptismal name, Godfrey. I went through several dictionaries online, and they all agree that Godfrey, a name of German origin, means “God and Peace”. Thankfully, we also have its Igbo derivative, which is Chi nwe udo.

I suspect these may not fall under what distinguished eggheads in your nature and class would term, research. But I am sure you will understand their importance to this thesis, long as it were, as you read on.

Permit me, my Lord Bishop, to let you know why I chose this route. My knowledge of the Holy Book tells me that the whole idea of evangelism, as laid down by Christ our Redeemer, is to avail the world of the door into the Kingdom of God. The Jews and the Gentiles are welcome. And it is only when we intentionally, and with love, open this door that the Kingdom enlarges to fulfill the purpose of Christ. If this were not so, Christianity would have been limited to just a few people, most likely to include only Christ, his parents and the very first Apostles that he chose.

Why am I saying all these? Well, I have heard from several quarters that you have given authority to the Catholic priests under your watch in the Nsukka Diocese to preach to the flock, messages that will favour the election of Peter Mbah of the Peoples Democratic Party as Governor of Enugu State come Saturday, 11 March for no other reason other than he being a Catholic.

I am aware that as the 2023 elections drew near, and given the pestilence (if you permit me the use of that term) that bad governance had imposed on the people of God, the Church had taken up the role, as it does in all our affairs, to guide our people to make informed decisions on how to vote credible people into office. I know that this decision was taken, with the usual best intentions, to ensure the emergence of our very best. I doubt if, at that time, the idea was to elect the best Catholic; you wanted to help us to elect “our best.” No qualifiers. No modifiers.

My Lord Bishop, you are aware, and as you have preached about on many occasions, that we live in a country where the tragedy of flawed leadership selection has conspired, since the dawn of democracy in 1999, to deny the best of us from leading the rest of us. As one of the most cerebral Bishops in the Catholic family and, indeed, the entire Christendom, you have had occasions to reflect on this tragic reality. Perhaps you may have wished, because of your famed love for humanity and our common progress and prosperity, you could “will” competence and responsibility into our leadership.

Nna anyi, the Catholic Church went through great pains and expended enormous resources to interrogate a number of the people aspiring for political offices in Enugu state. We all know those who respected the Church and checked your boxes. We also know those who treated the Church with contempt and entitled arrogance.

Our revered Bishop, we are hearing that a number of the people who apparently didn’t make the cut during that rigorous exercise undertaken by the Church under your watch, are approaching you, wielding the divisive Catholic and Anglican dichotomy in a transactional and desperate bid to use the Church to work against certain people. Their ploy is to ostensibly leverage the numerical advantage of the Catholic Church to drown the aspirations of those who, otherwise, are better candidates, in character, vision and responsibility.

The rumour mill in Enugu is pervasive and people believe a lot of the things that it proliferates. This strikingly productive rumour factory also has it that those fanning these embers of denominational division have also dangled an enticing carrot, inside which a princely sum of N500 million is buried, allegedly to convince you that inspiring the Church to support a Catholic (over and above the larger considerations of value, capacity and competence) would serve better.

Sadly, it is the same people who are trying to whisk the Church into religio-political centrifugalism that are also filling the lay airwaves, that “even the Bishop has a price after all”.

Igwe bu ike. There is strength in numbers. In saying this, I am not just reminding you of your name, but also trying to assert its deeper philosophical meaning. Igwe bu ike, it is important to note, also speaks of the value of diversity and the power of societal plurality, no matter our denominational differences.

I am not certain I qualify to do this, but permit me, my Lord Bishop, this presumptive attempt to draw your attention to what Christ teaches us in Luke 10:25-37. There he gives us one of His more popular parables, the Good Samaritan. Christ teaches us, and we all learn that in our everyday lives, often our help and relief do not come from those we may call family or friends. In the desperate social, moral and economic retardation in which we have found ourselves as a people, the search for a helper ought not necessarily be cocooned within defined denominational criteria.

Nna anyi, the examples are several, and the Good Book appears to have documented all of them just for a period such as we currently find ourselves. These times challenge our ability to literally think and act out of our denominational boxes.

But what is God telling us through all of these examples? In simple terms, He is telling us not to limit our search for help from among predefined circles, because those whom we consider outsiders to our faith might just be the source of help for us and our people.

This becomes very important because available information has it that those who, as the rumour mills have been saying, are now pestering you with their sanctimonious Catholicism, are the same people who, during the course of this election cycle, at one point or the other, appeared to demean and attempted to diminish the authority and sanctity of the Church.

We heard of one incident where a prominent leader told a priest that he was going to “deal” with him. We heard of another where someone called a priest, your priest, an “imbecile” for the simple act of refusing to allow election manipulation. The saddest of these cases happened inside the sacred House of God, where someone, apparently a Catholic, backed by thugs, commanded that guns be fired at the roof of the Church in an effort to disperse a voter education programme painstakingly organised under your leadership.

When Boko Haram violated the sacredness of our Church and attacked St Teresa’s Church in Madalla, Niger State, on Christmas day some 13 years ago, we all cried. But in our immediate environment, our Church is being attacked by people who subscribe to our faith, and we are making shows of advocating for the same people to get into political leadership, simply because their opponents are Anglicans! How can this be? How can the unjust speak of justice? How can those who attacked the supreme sanctity of the Church be sanctimonious?

I have heard that some of the priests have started implementing the instruction, said to have come from you. I hear they actually used the sombre occasion of the Stations of the Cross on Friday evening to attempt to persuade people to vote one particular way, against a person they described as Anglican. I also heard that in one Church, congregants chorused a “NO” to the command of the priest. Nna anyi, politicians should not be allowed to sow division and confusion in the house of God.

Why are we in a dire situation where a national election has been adjudged as stolen? It was an election where a Muslim presidential candidate has been elected with another Muslim vice presidential candidate. I assume this is what should be giving all Christians across Nigeria sleepless nights. The ambition of an Anglican whose integrity, character and conduct have not been found wanting in any way should be the least of our problems. And to think this Anglican is even married to a Catholic and living happily with her!

My Lord Bishop, the expectation of all men, particularly Christians, no matter their denomination, is that the Church is the beacon of hope for its people. The Church is shelter for all, and inspiration for those who seek to live the truth. The Church is an advocate for love and for those whose mantra is love. And in my most elementary understanding, love, service, hope and a people’s well-being cannot be denominated. Neither can suffering, lack or hunger. And there is so much of those in the land, created by politicians grossly lacking in vision, compassion and empathy, and who I dare say, subscribe to the Catholic faith.

At a time like this, my Lord Bishop, there is nothing more compelling than to lead our people to a better place, a better future, and a place of healing Even if it is in the nature of the Samaritan, which re-evokes the question asked by Christ; “Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” While I earnestly seek your forgiveness and understanding for the presumptions of this letter, permit me to convey my sincere hope that it meets your kind consideration and necessary action, as well as the assurances of my highest esteem.

Okuhu is a specialist brand critic and public relations strategist, serial author, among other competencies. He is the founder/publisher of BRANDish.

This article was first published in https://ikemsjournal.com.ng/