Bishop Dr. Gabriel David-Okoro JP
One of the indices of true leadership is transparency, honesty, and integrity, and where it is lacking we had better take to our heels and run to the safety of our tents. It is good to be honestly wrong than to be deviously right. I am equally appalled and miffed at the latest invention of dubiety and crookedness by the APC’s Presidential aspirant, Bola Ahmed Tinubu to hoodwink Nigerians into believing that Christians are in support of APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket just as they succeeded in deceiving Nigerians in the 2015 elections that brought them to power.
When I saw those scrawny-looking clowns and charlatans dressed in sacred priestly robes, parading themselves at the unveiling of Shettima as the running mate of APC’s presidential aspirant, I saw desperation taken too far by Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s campaign organization. Christians have been insulted too many times by the APC federal government. Should we talk about the desecration of the holy place by state-sponsored actors (masquerading as Boko Haram, Fulani herdsmen, and Bandits) who have made the Church a feasting ground where they satisfy their morbid quest and thirst for human blood?
The APC government has run short of tactics. According to Abraham Lincoln, you can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. The day has already broken, we can now see clearly. No more hiding places for nocturnal beings who rely on the cover of the darkness to carry out their nefarious deeds.
On one hand, a man who can hire ‘canonical impostors’ to represent the church in a political gathering to score cheap popularity to get to power, will do anything without giving recourse to the dictates of his conscience when he eventually gets that power. On the other hand, the same man must have been living a pretentious existence; so why entrust him with the instrument of state power? Such a man cannot represent us save himself.
The parade of these canonized impostors is a comical stroke of bad luck which I believe is divinely orchestrated to scuttle the evil agenda of devious men in Nigeria. As laughable as it appears, we can’t laugh at grief occasioned by the awareness of the gathering of ominous clouds which are ensigns of a national tragedy.
Only those who are thoroughly schooled in spiritual matters will know that the script acted out by the APC is not only contempt of the church of Jesus, but a sacrilegious offense that is worthy of a death penalty for ‘God cannot be mocked.’
A church with folded hands will surely bend her knees for the God of vengeance to intervene in this matter, for it is His honour that is at stake. It is His name that is being trampled underfoot by the ungodly. It is an abomination when sacred things are being trampled upon on the altar of Mammon.
“Abomination of desolation” mentioned by Daniel describes the pagan sacrifices with which the 2nd century BCE Greek king Antiochus IV replaced the twice-daily offering in the Jewish temple. It also describes the altar on which such offerings were made. The abomination of desolation speaks of the abomination that causes grief. What Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his lieutenants have done can aptly be labeled as the abomination of desolation. In other words, it should be enough to cause a national tragedy. Nothing should stop us from declaring a day of national grief to avert the impending tragedy.
There are several implications to this comical sacrilege committed by the APC.
One, they have endeavoured to portray the church (which is the light and beacon of hope for Nigerians who believe that righteousness exalts a nation) as a band of people led by hungry shepherds who can sell their souls for filthy lucre just as Judas did to our Master. The unwary and spiritually unlearned may not be quick to recognize them as ‘wolves in sheep’s apparel. Their presence, in that inglorious gathering, is proof that their kith and kin are littered all over our land.
These people, if they are Christians at all, are ready to sell their Christian heritage for a morsel of food that will later be decanted into the latrine in a matter of time. They represent the ‘bread and butter’ Christians whom I hyped in the wake of the 2015 elections that brought Buhari to power.
Two, they have successfully reduced the church to a butt of jokes. It is a huge joke to see men of God attend a political rally organized by people who have no modicum of regard for the Christian faith. The thought of hiring people to wear sacred ministry garments meant for the sacred altar of God to a place where Mammon is elevated above the conscience of men should have been made to perish right from inception.
Three, they have managed to distort the mindset of simpletons in the church and in the nation who may not realize that there is more to this than meets the eyes. A spiritual novice in the church will gullibly accept the Muslim-Muslim ticket because spiritual fathers (of unknown pedigrees) were there to duly represent us at the forum where the Muslim-Muslim ticket was officially launched. We can safely say the same about outsiders (that is, non-Christians).
Four, they are invoking the wrath of God, not only upon themselves but on an ailing nation. That God does not immediately react to offenses does not connote indifference on his part, but it only shows His long-suffering nature which should not be taken for granted. When the cup of wrath becomes full, God will not hesitate to launch out an offensive against His adversaries; and in doing so, given our circumstances, the nation will also suffer. The reason why we should all berate the action of these APC charlatans is that when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. When God becomes angry because of the sins of the leaders, those who are the-led will also suffer. That is why the led must register their discontentment with the untoward sacrilegious action of the APCs so that they can be preserved by the time calamity strikes.
Five, it signals their sunset at doomsday. Whatever has a beginning surely has an end. “This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the highest ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men”. Dan. 4:17.
In the days of King Belteshazzar, an invisible hand wrote on the palace wall: “mene, mene, tekel, upharsin”, which means “God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. Thy kingdom is divided, and given to others.” Dan. 5:25-27.
The sixth implication of APC’s latest display of impunity is that it offers sane Nigerians an opportunity for them to further know and understand the true character and nature of the party itself, and the people being pushed to the fore as their presidential flag bearers. It is not easy to hide one’s true nature and intentions for so long. The leopard cannot change its spots. It is a revelation of the degree of moral decline, childishness, and godlessness of the APC. Must we hand over the reins of government to such lawless individuals whose outdated postures on national issues are evidence of their decrepit nature?
It is said that when one enters the declining years, he starts thinking and behaving like a little child. Nigeria is too enormous to be handed into the care of childish old men who should seat on reclining chairs, and tell tales of our nation to their grandchildren.
Finally, according to Reverend William Anderson Scott, in his book entitled, A Model for Young Men (1854), “whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad”. In other words, when God wants to destroy a person, family, nation, or organization, He allows them to misbehave like fools. They demonstrated a nonchalance to holy things in absolute disregard to the person of God, a disregard which was catalyzed by the choice of a Muslim as a vice presidential candidate and condensed by the parade of fake Bishops in an APC-organized political rally.
They added insults to our injury when their presidential flag bearer said his choice was based on the dearth of competent Christians in the north. “The fool says there is no God”. Actions speak louder than words. APC has proclaimed by its derogatory act that there is no God.
According to them, the God of the church is not real because if He is real they will consider His people in their actions and inactions. Failure to do so, is proof of their damnation, that the God of the church does not exist. But there is a God in heaven who rules in the affairs of men, and He will answer the so-called power there be that He exists in due time.
This misbehavior of APC’s Bola Ahmed Tinubu campaign organization is a direct effrontery and mockery of the sacred institution of church ministry, the highest and greatest office that any mortal can ever occupy. For Tinubu’s APC to think they can denigrate this sacred divine institution to gain ascendancy to the seat of power in Nigeria without just retribution from above must be a terrible joke.
