Monday letter1
I respect religious leaders and I would not get into the gamut of spirituality which I don’t understand because its opacity is rife and I respect that. I wouldn’t call myself a doyen of spiritual matters, but when my logical faculties are fanged by spiritual outplay, I ask questions.
These questions might not be palatable to all. Some might see my questions as heretic, some might see them as sarcastic but I dare say I have a right to ask.
On the 31st of December, a lot of Nigerians went to a crossover service as they normally do and Father Mbaka was at his own crossover service. These services are centered around prophecy for the year and insights on how to run the year. To my shock, Father Mbaka started making spiritual proclamation on Imo State, it looked as though the people had complained to him. He said he saw hope and he empowered Hope and emboldened him to lead. Some 16 days after Hope was governor by a controversial Supreme Court ruling. Immediately my inquisitive mind kicked in. What did Father Mbaka see? I ask this because if the father was a betting man (God Forgive me) he would be odds on favorite for every stake. I would also like to ask that did Father Mbaka see that Operation Amotekun was going to be declared illegal? Did he see all the fights and killings in the North? Did he see the economic hardship Nigerians are facing? Did he see that Trump was going to order the killing of General Suleimani and almost start a Third World War?
My questions will be endless to Father Mbaka, but recently I saw videos of Hope Uzodinma donating to father Mbaka’s church and my mind started to ask questions. Was the donation connected to the prophecy because if you look strongly, Father Mbaka once rebuked Peter Obi, Vice Presidential candidate of the PDP because he did not make donations to the church, but others would argue that Father Mbaka’s prophecies are always spot-on! I ask you, do you believe them? And if yes what are the parameters for belief? Do you think God was so concerned about Hope Uzodinma’s case that it made a prophecy list?
I would have thought that there are more pressing matters that should have been revealed to Father Mbaka than Hope Uzodinma’s victory at the Supreme Court.
I would also like to ask: when did the Church start the business of fortune telling? Hence the reaction from some clergymen condemning the actions of Father Mbaka and calling for stern rebuke.
Isn’t it time to draw a line between partisanship and spirituality? Isn’t it time to stop this assault on our mental faculties? The prophecy by Father Mbaka is enough to heat up the polity of any nation and truncate our nascent democracy; hence caution should be the watchword in our public sphere. What religious leaders should do is to give guidance as regards nation building and national development in every facet of Nigerian life.
Rufai Oseni,rufai@rufai.com.ng
