By: Sam Aweda is President & Snr. Pastor, Jesus for the World Revival Mission

Questions have been raised as to what business a Pastor got to do with protest against bad governance, referring to Pastor Tunde Bakare. The lashing of the government by the retiring leader of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Primate Jasper Akinola at the 80th birthday ceremony of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuade early this year, 2010 has also been criticized, though mildly by some people of the media as too harsh coming from the pulpit. These questions have certainly risen, out of pure lack of knowledge of the Scriptures; both the Bible and the Qur' an.

Of course, the primary and sole responsibility of spiritual leaders is to lead and guide their congregations to heaven but this duty will be very difficult except their (congregation) state of body well-being is good enough. The state of the body well being of an individual has a big part to play in his/her spiritual well being. A well maintained body will be equipped to properly focus on the spiritual without the temptation of compromising his faith in order to survive (live a fairly acceptable life). The prayer of a man by the name Augur was recorded in Proverbs 30:7-9 and quoted:

"Two things have I required of Thee (God); deny me them not before I die: Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches, feed me with food convenient for me. Lest I be full, and deny you, and say, who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the Name of my God in vain". A Yoruba adage says "You are hawking bath soap when I am hungry, how can I clean the outside while the inside is not full".

So what do you expect a true shepherd (Pastor) to do in the circumstance where the government of the earth is treating his sheep (congregation) so miserably as it is being experienced in Nigeria leading to a situation which is incapacitating the congregation to live a life worthy of heaven and enter into rest?. To allow their congregations be devoured by the roaming wolves in persons of the conscienceless, greedy, wicked and selfish people running our government, who has created untold hardship and poverty in the nation?. A real shepherd will fight the roaming wolves with all it takes to protect his sheep. And this is what Pastor Tunde Bakare, Primate Akinola and Bishop Gbonigi have been doing. Lone voices in the wilderness.

But where are the other Shepherds in the Churches and Mosques, especially those with large pulpits, whose followers are large enough and capable to trigger positive actions, which can force the government to be responsible and accountable?. They are busy winning and dining with the corrupt government officials, presiding over the thanksgiving services of the rigged elections that brought them to power.

They are busy milking the sheep in tithes, offerings and gifts without bothering for the sources of the monies and in effect without bothering for where they (sheep) end up, whether heaven or hell. And recently they have introduced "First fruits" where they collect the January salaries of the sheep, voluntarily or involuntarily to buffer their wealth.

I understand that the Muslim Shepherds (Clerics) are themselves largely supported by corrupt individuals in the government; they are sent food stuff and other items during Ramadan and Eid-ul-fitir (celebration that follows Ramadan) and Eid-al-Adha (Hajj celebration) and other Muslim festivals. So if all these take place, how is it possible for them to fight the wolves i.e. the corrupt government?, Many of the Shepherds in both large faiths have largely become self serving in a Yoruba adage, which translates as "We in our case are full, we are not aware that children of some other people are hungry"

This non-caring attitude of many of our Spiritual leaders to the plight of the citizens is a departure from what it was the situation at the beginning. After the people of God decided on their own to be governed by kings, He (God) left them with checks & balances. Saul, the first king of Israel had Samuel, the prophet to check his excesses.

King David, though a prophet himself had Samuel, Nathan and Gad as his ombudsman at one time or the other, that wicked king, Ahab with his witch wife, Jezebel had prophet Elijah on his neck and Kings Jehoshaphat & Jehu had Prophet Elisha.

The great prophet Isaiah checked Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah and Manesseh in that order of succession. Isaiah paid the supreme price however. Bible history had it that King Manasseh had Isaiah tied between two trees and had him sawed into two.

Jeremiah was called into the ministry in the 13th year of the reign of the boyish king, Josiah. He warned relentlessly kings Eliakim (Jehoiakim), Jehoiachin and Zedekiah in that order of succession until God gave Judah to king Nebuchadnezzer of Babylon who took them captives and exiled them to Babylon in 605BC, 597BC & 586BC respectively in what is described as the worst catastrophe that befell the Jews in the Old Testament history (2Kings 24,25; 2Chr.36; Jer.). These checks and balances continued till the appearance of Christ at the scene, if we recollect how John the Baptist confronted king Herod. John also paid the supreme price. Herod beheaded him at the demand of his adulterous woman.

The Muslim holy book is equally against bad rulers. Hear it in Surah 2: 188 "And do not consume one another's wealth unjustly or send it (in bribery) to the rulers in order that (they might aid) you (to) consume a portion of the wealth of the people in sin, while you know (it is unlawful)"

And in same Surah 2 vs. 193, believers are enjoined to fight their rulers to finish; who oppress them and cause them "fitna" Now we know where the Yoruba word "Fitina" originates. "Fitna" or whether "Fitina" means to make another person miserable, leading to tumult. And how many million Nigerians have our rulers made miserable and caused untold hardship (tumult)? And what is our Muslim Clerics doing about it? They should rise up to their calling.

The Qur'an is firmly against injustice. Hear it in Surah 4:135 "O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm in justice, witnesses, witnesses for Allah, even if it be against yourselves or parents and relatives. Whether one is rich or poor, Allah is more worthy of both-------"

(All quotations are from "Saheeh International translation"

Unfortunately, our Nigerian Muslim leaders have pitted their tents with the rulers and the rich who oppress the citizens as long as they have their share of the largesse from the government treasury and are sponsored with their relations on annual pilgrimage to Mecca. The missing link in Nigeria today is that we have only a few of the likes of Prophet Samuel, Elijah and other prophets previously referred to, who can look straight at the rulers and confront them of their evil doings. What we have mostly are the likes of prophet Hananiah (Jer. 28) and prophet Shemaiah (Jer.29: 30-32) who prophesy or do I say "soothsay" to the rulers what their itching ears want to hear.

God makes the spiritual leaders "watchmen" (Ezek. 3: 7-9).

Jesus calls His followers salt & light of the world (Matt. 5: 13 & 14). It is expected of them to season the world in the same manner, which salt makes our food tasty. Salt is used as a preservative and the Lord has placed the responsibility on His followers to make and preserve the world, suitable and comfortable for habitation. Where a problem defiles all proffered human solutions, Spiritual leaders ought and should provide the answer.

Spiritual leaders in America are wonderfully performing their roles in this aspect. They have constituted themselves as the conscience of the nation. They issue statements constantly with analysis of how any of the Government actions will affect the lives of the citizens. The American Family Association (AFA) is always on the neck of the Government. Hardly does any week go by without making us to sign a petition to our representatives or senators or the President over one issue or the other? Who will stand in the gap for Nigeria?

Shall we live it to Pastor Tunde Bakare, Primate Jasper Akinola, Bishop Gbonigi and a few of the others alone?. I have no doubt in my mind that if the Spiritual leaders of the two largest faiths in the country will rise to their calling, it is only a matter of months to have all the ills of the country corrected and send our poverty into oblivion.

God help us.


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