Date Published: 01/25/10

Dear Editor,

Primate Akinola's charge to the clerics

Home-truth was dished out to colleagues by a cleric recently. The Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Comminion), the Most Rev Peter Akinola, indicted fellow religious leaders in the country of being responsible for the present situation in the nation.

Reading from The Guardian of Saturday January 9, 2010, the Primate while speaking at the just-concluded one-week Bishop Retreat at the Ibru Centre, Agbarha-Otor in Delta State said “We cry peace when in actual fact, we should cry war. We eugolize political leaders, we sing praises of people who are in power and rich because of material gains and consequently they too continue in their evil practices without thinking of the consequences which have contributed to why the nation remains like this today”.

The Primate may be referring to various handing out of anointing to political office holders by the so-called ‘men of God’. It will be recalled that the most celebrated of the lot was the one that involved a south-south governor who wished to add to his allegedly various induced ‘endorsements’, sought for anointing and handing over of key by a Pentecostal bishop for second term; the bishop was showered with gifts comprising of SUV jeep, some cash, and construction of road leading to the private church of the bishop, among other things.

Primate Akinola ended his advice to his colleagues thus: “I am appealing to all of us, religious leaders including myself, to reclaim our prophetic roles and declare to this nation, ‘Thus says the Lord’ and if anything happens after, we will be able to beat our chests and say we have fulfilled our own part and that we have done what we were called to do”.

Dr. Emmanuel James, Plot 1159 Woji Road, Port Harcourt