Politics

Of Mbaka’s Discordant Tunes And His Critics

Published

10 years ago

January 12, 2015

This is a season of pre
dictions, not just for what becomes of the New Year in the long run, but what lies in the belly of the forthcoming general elections in the country. Thus, when the popular Enugu catholic priest and founder of the Adoration Ministry, Rev. Father Ejike Mbaka chose to be partisan in his liberation theology, Nigerians began to question the authenticity of his messages to his numerous admirers.
Rev Mbaka’s messages concerning President Goodluck Jonathan at two different fora form the basis of judgement on the style, colour and what the priest stands for in politics of the time.
In November 2014, Rev Mbaka played host to First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, and others at his Enugu parish where he told the First Lady that her husband had “done well” and deserved another tenure at the Aso Rock, in spite of the distractions apparently referring to the issues of terrorism and insecurity in Nigeria.
The priest did not stop there. He defended President Jonathan for not saving the Chibok school girls, adding that “campaigners on the Chibok girls’ abduction have no reason asking the President to return the girls’ home since Mr. Jonathan was not keeping them.”
Fr. Mbaka who said he heard his message from “above” offered special players for President Jonathan to win the re-election and excel in leadership. Dame Patience was special guest of honour at the 2014 annual thanksgiving and bazaar of Fr. Mbaka’s parish church. She took a bible reading from Genesis, chapter 12:2-3.
However, about a month after the visit of the First Lady, the catholic priest made a dramatic u-turn on Goodluck Jonathan and started singing discordant tunes about the President’s re-election bid. In his new year message, delivered on the eve of 2015, Rev Mbaka lambasted and warned President Jonathan to forget about his 2015 re-election bid and allow his main opponent, Muhammadu Buhari to be the next President
Apart from calling on President Jonathan to “quietly resign” for failing to tackle the insecurity and corruption in the land, the catholic priest also said that Nigeria would be doomed if President Jonathan is re-elected. He recalled the November meeting with the First Lady, and said the “spiritual drama” he performed that day using pigeons, showed that the President would lose the forthcoming elections.
According to him, four pigeons were freed from the cage to fly up but the one that represented Mr. Jonathan refused to move even though it was the healthiest.
The first question that emerges from Rev Mbaka’s spiritual drama is that the other three pigeons that flew away represented who and who? Again, why did he not disclose the outcome of the “spiritual drama” at the November session with Dame Patience? Could Fr. Mbaka have compromised his spirituality with the fallout of the visit of the First Lady at his church’s bazaar?
Or could it be that the catholic priest uses different spiritual colours to attend spiritual/political sessions and that, by and large, determine the colouration of his spiritual interpretations on political issues?
However, an Anglican Archbishop believed that Fr. Mbaka was settled for him to change gear on the first family. The Archbishop of Enugu Anglican Province and Bishop of Enugu, Most Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma, said, “Fr. Mbaka should declare to the world how much he collected from the opponent for him to say all he said against Dr. Jonathan.”
Reacting to Fr. Mbaka’s new year message at his adoration ground, Archbishop Chukwuma recalled First Lady’s visit to Mbaka’s adoration ground in November 2014 where he alleged she (Dame Patience) doled out N5 million and the catholic priest eulogized the President, urging him to continue in his good works without fear or favour only to turn back suddenly to make negative statements about him.
The Anglican archbishop, however, called on Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria to check Fr. Mbaka with a view to curbing his excesses.
The Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN) also expressed concern over the excesses of its priest. The Secretary-General of CSN, Rev. Fr. Ralph Madu, distanced the Catholic Church from Fr. Mbaka’s comments on President Jonathan and the forthcoming general elections, saying they were his personal opinion.
He said some charismatic leaders who claim that they are getting their inspiration from the holy spirit or from God, should not open their mouth wide but pass their message in a manner that is acceptable, considering the explosive nature of the country and other factors.
But the All Progressives Congress (APC) praised Fr. Mbaka’s criticisms of President Jonathan administration for what the party called “his uncommon concern for the down-trodden and for being the advocate of the masses and the voice of the voiceless”.
APC which reacted through its South East spokesperson, Osita Okechukwu, described Fr. Mbaka as a liberation theologian, noting that President Jonathan “is a shoeless man that abandoned the shoeless when he ascended to power. Fr. Mbaka is 100 percent correct.”
He slammed the President for “monumental corruption” of his administration and also accused him of having squandered unprecedented crude oil and gas revenue resulting in Nigeria sliding back into the dangerous loop of foreign debt trap.
On Monday, January 6, 2015, pro-Buhari supporters engaged their pro-Jonathan counterparts in a war of words at the old market road in the commercial city of Onitsha where the former insisted that there was nothing wrong in what Fr. Mbaka said. According to the pro-Buhari group, Rev. Mbaka only gave the message of God to save the ailing country from the hands of President Jonathan.
However, leader of pro-Jonathan group and chairman of Newspaper Distributors Association, Onitsha, Jude Isiguzo, lambasted Fr. Mbaka for attacking President Jonathan, describing his action as against the principle of evangelisation. He said there is no alternative to President Jonathan and that his re-election is God’s making not man’s.
Further dissecting Dr. Mbaka’s fierce attack on Jonathan titled “From Goodluck to Bad Luck,” Onyiorah Paschal Chiduluemije, said there is nothing wrong for Fr. Mbaka hosting the First Lady and using pigeons which supposedly signify peace.He, however, believes there is certainly something wrong with the catholic priest to say that the one pigeon, out of the four pigeons, that refused to fly up represented President Jonathan.
Contrary to the claim that Fr. Mbaka was not partisan, Paschal argues that the catholic priest is actually partisan for him to have singled out one of the pigeons as representing Nigeria’s No. 1 citizen.
The second Niger bridge which Jonathan promised Ndigbos during his first term is taking donkey years to be accomplished. Perhaps, this provides the prism from which some aspects of Fr. Mbaka’s outburst could be well situated. But issues pertaining to development are hardly discussed in isolation.
While Jonathan administration cannot be spared for delaying the construction of the second Niger bridge, praises ought to be showered on him for his developmental legacies in Igboland by way of appointments into key government positions and the building of an international airport of world-class standard in Enugu, after decades of misrule and marginalisation of the Igbos in national project.
Unarguably, insecurity has challenged Jonathan administration more than past administrations but that is not to say that his government has not been responsible enough in tackling insurgency within the ambit of the laws as well as the limit of rules of engagement available to the Nigerian military and other security agencies operating n the evil axis of the North.

Samuel Eleonu

Politics

Fubara Lauds Andonis For Support, Commends Chairman Over Empowerment Programme

Published

16 hours ago

September 9, 2024

The Tide

Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminialayi Fubara, has commended the people of Andoni for their strong support to his administration.
Governor Fubara, represented by the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Rt Hon. Victor Oko-Jumbo, said this at Ngo Town, headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area, during the second phase of the economic empowerment programme of the LGA.
The Governor also commended the Caretaker Committee Chairman of the council, Hon. Reginald Ekaan, for keeping to his directive to CTC chairmen to embark on economic empowerment for their people and urged him not to rest on his oars, but continue with the programme until the last day of his administration.
The Governor also commended the leadership of the Simplified Movement in Andoni and that of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for bringing the vision of the governor to the nooks and crannies of the area.
Speaking, the House of Representatives member representing Andoni, Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency, Rt Hon. Awajinombek Abiante, commended Governor Fubara for opening up the economic space for Rivers people.
Rt Hon. Abiante described the event as an indication that the Governor has opened the economic space of Rivers state to the people, adding that it would surely address the issue of poverty in Andoni.
He urged beneficiaries of the programme not to see the items given to them as articles of trade, stressing that they were meant to economically empower them and their families, while calling on them to continue to give the Governor the desired support.
Rt Hon. Abiante, who is the leader of the Simplified Movement in Andoni, decried the dirty politics bedevilling the state, stressing that it was dragging the state backwards.
Also speaking, the CTC Chairman, Barrister Ekaan, said that his administration had provided solarised borehole to Ajakajak community while 700 persons were provided with financial empowerment.
He listed items for empowerment to include 12 mini buses, cars for caretaker committee members, 899 bags of 25 kg rice, 450 bags of maize and 99 bags of garri.
The rest were: 12 sewing machines, 12 barbing saloon clippers, 12 sets of electricity generators, amongst others.
Earlier, chairman of the occasion, Chief David Ibiamu Ikanya, commended the CTC chairman for the empowerment programme and urged everyone to continue with their support to Governor Fubara.

By: John Bibor

Politics

Rivers Assembly Screens, Confirms Fubara’s RSBOPP Nominees

Published

16 hours ago

September 9, 2024

The Tide

The Rivers State House of Assembly, last Friday, screened and confirmed Governor Siminalaye Fubara’s nominees for Chairman and members of the board of The Rivers State Bureau On Public Procurement (BoPP).
The nominees were: Barrister Lawrence Oko-Jaja (SAN), Chairman; Dr Mina Ogbanga, member and Engr Adokiye Oyaghiri member.
Others were: Barr Selinah Amonieh, member; Engr Iseleye Amachree, member; Chief Gift Alex Hart, member; Mrs Grace Osaronu, member and Ernest Ibekwe Ekwe, member.
The Speaker, Rt Hon. Victor Oko-Jumbo, prior to the commencement of the screening and confirmation exercise, read a letter from the state governor, Sir Siminalaye Fubara, requesting the screening and confirmation of the nominees as Chairman and members of The Board of The Rivers State Bureau On Public Procurement.
Speaking shortly after the exercise, Rt Hon. Oko-Jumbo told the Chairman and board members designate that they owed the state a duty of ensuring probity, transparency and accountability as far as the state procurement process is concerned.
He expressed optimism that they would bring their wealth of experience to bear in their new assignment.
The Speaker later directed the Clerk of the House to convey the House’s resolution to the Governor.
In his own remarks, the House Leader, Hon. Sokari GoodBoy Sokari, said it behoved on them to assist the state governor in the ongoing infrastructural revolution across the state.
Hon. Sokari urged them to put the state first, stressing that they were expected to use their position to advance the betterment of the grassroots.
On his part, the Deputy Speaker, Rt Hon. Orubienimigha Timothy, described the nominees as men and women of unimpeachable character who would surely bring their wealth of experience to bear as far as the procurement process of the state is concerned.
Responding to a question from the Deputy Speaker, the Chairman designate of the BoPP, Barrister Oko-Jaja, said that their job was simply value for money, value for goods and services.
He said that their duty was that of a market survey with the view to getting the best for the state as far as pricing of projects are concerned.
According to him, when they assume duty, they would work to ensure that no service provider is pitched against the government.
The Chairman designate also said that human capacity development will top their agenda.
Meanwhile, the House has adjourned to the 4th of September, 2024 for continuation of sitting.

By: John Bibor

Politics

APC Leadership Tussle: N’Central Forum Frowns At Gov Sule’s Support For Ganduje

Published

16 hours ago

September 9, 2024

The Tide

The North Central All Progressives Congress (APC) Forum has condemned the endorsement of the embattled National Chairman of the party, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, by the Chairman of the North Central Governors’ Forum and Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule.
Speaking with newsmen on Saturday at the forum’s headquarters in Jos, the Plateau State capital, the Chairman of the Forum, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, said the courtesy visit Governor Sule paid to the party secretariat in Abuja on Friday to pledge his support for Dr Ganduje was for selfish and personal interest and not the interest of the North Central region, the APC or the President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The chairman said such endorsement by Governor Sule, which came at a time when the party stakeholders from the region were pushing for the return of the National Chairmanship position to the North Central, was not only insensitive and mischievous, but also an act of betrayal of the entire region.
Alhaji Zazzaga, who was also a member of the Presidential Campaign Council in the 2023 election, pointed out that Governor Sule was well aware that the National Chairmanship position, according to the party arrangement and zoning, ought to be for the North Central after the resignation of Senator Abdullahi Adamu, who is not only from the North Central region but also from Governor Sule’s own state of Nasarawa.
For Governor Sule to openly come out and betray his state and the entire region shows that he is someone who is not after the progress of his own state, the North Central region, and he is not a man of equity and justice, Alhaji Zazzaga stressed.
He also alleged that, from the outset, Governor Sule did not support President Tinubu and did everything to halt his emergence as the APC presidential candidate, because he (Governor Sule) was nursing a vice presidential ambition with another APC presidential candidate.
“Governor Sule is not a founding member of the APC because he came in along the line, and so he does not understand the progressive ideology and drive of the party.
“That is why he is doing things that are contrary to the concept of the party stakeholders, chieftains, bigwigs and members, as well as supporters.
“Besides we all know that in the 2023 election, the APC in Nasarawa State didn’t perform satisfactorily under Governor Sule; this is obvious in the number of the legislative seats that were won by the party and as well as the ones the opposition parties clinched.
“It is also a known fact that Governor Sule didn’t do well also at the 2023 polls, and if not for the judiciary which upheld his election, anything could have happened and APC would have lost the state.
“By and large, what has been Governor Sule’s contribution to the progress of the APC since he joined the party? Again, what has been his development indices and strides in Nasarawa State? With the increase in allocation gotten by the states today, what has Nasarawa State been able to do or has to show under Governor Sule?
“And time and again, we have had grumblings in many quarters about the leadership style of Governor Sule in the state which many frown upon.
“Therefore, he is not a good ambassador of the party and he is, by no means, in a position to speak for the North Central region or stakeholders of the party,” he said.
Alhaji Zazzaga, therefore, called on all the North Central governors to disassociate themselves from Governor Sule’s endorsement of Dr Ganduje immediately, stressing that whatever he was doing was for his selfish interest and not the interest of the North Central region.
“Moreover, we all know that Governor Sule is not a firm supporter of President Bola Tinubu, and he will do anything to bring his administration to dispute, and endorsing Ganduje is one of such, since Ganduje has already incurred legal liabilities and other disaffections for the party as the National Chairman.
“And even the Edo and Ondo elections, which Ganduje’s leadership produced the APC flag bearers, could be another mistake as he lacked the legitimacy to do that as his position is being contested and unrecognized. And so his action in Edo and Ondo could be another future legal liability,” he added.