By Reuben Abati<\/p>\n
Catholic priests in Nigeria have always captured the public imagination,
\nsome of them have served in government positions, some were prominent in
\nthe fight and struggle for democracy, some of them have proved their
\nmettle as poets, teachers, musicians, social critics, and public affairs
\ncommentators, but Rev. Fr. Ejike Camillus Anthony Ebenezer Mbaka is a cut
\nabove the rest, not necessarily in terms of intellect or persona, but in
\nterms of how he has been able to use the pulpit to acquire a rock star
\nstatus.<\/p>\n
It is therefore not surprising that everything about him is with a touch
\nof the histrionic.\u00a0 This is exactly what happened when he was transferred,
\nlast week, from a parish where he had served for 20 years: from Christ the
\nKing Parish, GRA Enugu, to Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, Umuchigbo,
\nNjinike,\u00a0 Enugu.\u00a0 Characteristically, this radical priest and social
\nactivist turned what should be a routine administrative posting by his
\nBishop into a melodrama and an assault on the authority of the Church.
\nYou would think he had been sentenced to a jail term, the way he whined
\nand wept and appealed to sympathy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to suffer because I have no place to put my head. I am going to
\nsuffer because I have no place to keep the Adoration Ministry\u2019s assets\u2026The
\nAdoration Ministry is passing through suffering right now even though I\u2019ve
\naccepted that it is the will of God. Is the will of God through suffering?
\nIt is a mega suffering. The quantum of the assets of the Adoration
\nMinistry is the only thing I am bothered about for now. Where am I going
\nto keep them? I am going to stay in one small room that has only one small
\nbed, one small table, little toilet and bathroom. So where am I going to
\nkeep all the Adoration assets? \u201c I couldn\u2019t believe that this was a
\nCatholic Priest.<\/p>\n
His pain was so palpable. He even took a shot at the Church: \u201cI won\u2019t
\nfight anybody or even dream of battling anybody. If anybody allows the
\ndevil to use him, the same that advised you to make a mistake will laugh
\nat you when you cry over the error.\u201d This was a clear suggestion that the
\ndevil was using his boss, the Diocesan Bishop of Enugu, His Lordship
\nCalistus Onaga, against him, Mbaka and the Adoration Ministry. Rev Fr.
\nMbaka further spoke with a touch of vanity about how he single-handedly
\nbuilt the Christ the King Parish, Enugu, with proceeds from the sale of
\nhis music albums. This priest is certainly special. He objects to
\nsuffering even if the Lord Jesus Christ, whose disciple he is, is the
\nembodiment of sacrifice and suffering. He talks about assets in a
\ncapitalistic sense, and yet his reputation rests on his commitment to the
\npoor. He finally says he accepts the \u201csuffering\u201d, sounding like a victim.<\/p>\n
Mbaka\u2019s melodrama was nothing short of an act of protest and incitement.
\nIt didn\u2019t take long before a mob-like group trooped to the GRA, Enugu to
\nhelp him move his things to the new church where it is said he will be an
\nassistant priest.\u00a0 If his followers had laid their hands on the Diocesan
\nBishop, only God knows what they would have done to him for allegedly
\ndemoting their hero. It also didn\u2019t take long before the spokesperson for
\nthe All Progressives Congress (APC), South-East Caucus, Osita Okechukwu
\nissued a statement alleging that Mbaka was being victimized because he is
\npro-Buhari and pro-APC.<\/p>\n
Okechukwu\u2019s intervention was a needless busybody act. He only stopped
\nshort of asking the Diocesan Bishop to reverse himself or get labeled as
\nan enemy of the government of the day. Nor did it take long before the
\nCatholic Church also put its feet down, stating clearly that no priest is
\nabove the Church. Mbaka definitely needed that reality check. But he had
\nsucceeded in politicizing his transfer and dragging the Catholic Church
\ninto mainstream, partisan politics with the Church holding the short end
\nof the stick.<\/p>\n
It is perhaps for this reason that the Catholic Bishop of Abuja
\nMetropolitan See, Cardinal John Onaiyekan once asked that Rev. Fr. Mbaka
\nshould be sanctioned. He actually accused him of talking \u201crubbish\u201d when he
\nopenly condemned President Goodluck Jonathan and insisted that the
\nelectorate should vote for Muhammadu Buhari, then Presidential candidate
\nof the APC, who according to him, was destined to win the 2015
\nPresidential election. \u201cI do not believe in my mind that the way things
\nare in Nigeria, any Catholic priest has the mandate to decide which of the
\npolitical contestants should be voted for\u2026 I don\u2019t believe a priest should
\nbe doing that\u2026If he was in my archdiocese, I will have sanctioned him long
\nago for the kind of utterances he makes.\u201d Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama.
\nPresident of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), also
\nsimilarly disowned him. Even with those protestations, Mbaka remained
\nuntouchable. He is on record as having declared in a secessionist mood,
\nfor example, that the sovereignty of Nigeria is not sacrosanct. \u201cIf we
\nmust be one Nigeria, let it be one Nigeria, but if it can\u2019t be one
\nNigeria, let us divide\u2026let us tell ourselves the truth.\u201d He has also since
\nthe 2015 elections, made a high profile visit to the Presidential Villa to
\nsee President Buhari. He was actually shown arriving in a private jet,
\nwaving to the crowd as if he was on a Papal visit to the seat of power!
\nHow did one priest, out of over 30 million Nigerian Catholics, become so
\npowerful and untouchable?<\/p>\n
Rev Fr. Mbaka\u2019s seeming invincibility lies in his significance and
\nrelevance. His Ministry is a loud comment on the relationship between the
\nChurch and the congregation. Mbaka is the founder and Spiritual Director
\nof a Ministry within the Catholic Church known as Adoration Ministry Enugu
\nNigeria (AMEN).\u00a0 Gifted, creative and clever; he is without any doubt a
\nliberation theologian. He runs a prophetic church, a church that believes
\nstrongly in the power of the Eucharist, and which in every sense is a
\nchurch of the poor. His source of inspiration must be those liberation
\ntheologians and other radical priests who have proven that for the church
\nto be relevant, it must be relevant to the interests, concerns and
\nexpectations of the congregation, particularly the underprivileged poor.<\/p>\n
More than any other catholic priest in Nigeria, Mbaka has taken the
\nCatholic Church beyond the confines of liberal conservatism to the
\nordinary man in the market place. He speaks the poor man\u2019s language, he
\nappeals to their imagination. He is the bridge between the Pentecostal
\nchurches and the Catholic Church in Nigeria. He has mastered the tricks,
\nthe rhetoric, the antics and the persona of the former, and he applies
\nthis with a touch of sassiness that is original.\u00a0 He urges members of his
\nministry to \u201cPray Until Something Happens\u201d (PUSH). In an overtly religious
\nand superstitious country like Nigeria, there is never a shortage of
\npersons who are ready to push until the impossible happens.<\/p>\n
He organizes vigils titled \u201cE no dey again\u201d. That is precisely what the
\npeople want to hear. They want to hear that problems, disease,
\nunemployment- \u201ce no dey again!\u201d.\u00a0 Mbaka also has a Foundation, the
\nMulti-Life Savers Foundation. Note the emphasis on the saving of lives! He
\npays hospital bills, he gives out cars, he builds houses for people, he
\npays school fees, he sponsors events. He sings. He dances. He is not your
\ntypical Catholic priest. He is rich. He talks about assets. Other priests
\ngo to him for financial assistance. He is an all-round entrepreneur in
\nchurch garments. His Ministry performs miracles, signs and wonders. He
\nmakes the lame walk, he opens the eyes of the blind, he cures diseases; he
\nspreads wealth and opportunities. He creates jobs. He provides hope. With
\nall this, Fr. Mbaka is far ahead of his bosses within the Catholic
\nhierarchy. Persons of other faiths and Christian denominations troop to
\nhis Ministry to seek spiritual counseling.\u00a0 Politicians seek his
\nendorsement. He controls the mind of multitudes. The Catholic Church is
\nprobably in need of reinvention, and the seeds of that process may well
\nlie in the example and eclecticism of Mbaka and his likes in other parts
\nof the Catholic world.<\/p>\n
The plain truth is that the average church-goer today is looking for
\nsomething different which the orthodox churches and their mode of worship
\ndo not offer. The poor who make up the congregation are as impatient as
\nthe politicians who have made them poor. They want immediate salvation,
\npractical solutions to their problems; they want their blessings here and
\nnow, not in a world to come. Mbaka and the Pentecostal pastors understand
\nthis and so they bring the church closer to the people\u2019s needs. But there
\nis a flipside and it is hubris.<\/p>\n
Hubris is risky and pernicious. It is what makes Fr. Mbaka appear so
\ncontradictory. It is what has distanced him from his original vows as a
\npriest, making him talk of cash and assets as if he were an investor on
\nBroad Street.\u00a0 It is what makes him complain of suffering and see his
\ntransfer as a punishment, rather than as an opportunity for further
\nevangelism of The Word. He must have started out as a humble priest, but
\ntoday, he has mastered the use of the media for self-projection and he is
\nnot contented with being a priest, he is now enjoying the life of a
\ncelebrity, hugging the limelight, seeking personal glory. He runs a
\nministry of miracles, of wonders and signs and he sees visions of possible
\nassassinations, either of himself or the politicians that he supports. No
\none should be surprised if this Pentecostal Catholic priest goes about
\nwith bodyguards. He shares this hubris with many other religious figures
\nwho seek to share power with politicians and co-govern Nigeria. They see
\nvisions about everything: from elections to diseases and foreign exchange
\nrates. They have created a New Order under which they command the
\nelectorate, political parties and governments.<\/p>\n
It is this hubris that has blinded Fr. Mbaka to the fact that the souls to
\nbe won for Christ are not only in GRA, Enugu, but in all places as well.
\nHis transfer to a smaller parish should remind him of the essence of his
\npriestly vows: humility, simplicity, obedience, sacrifice, as well as
\ncommitment to the good of the church rather than individual heroism,
\nvalues which can truly make him a priest in the Order of Melchizedek. Let
\nhim therefore, suffer if he must, and let his suffering be a blessing upon
\nthe poor and the Church, and if he as much as whimpers again, let him be
\nposted post-haste to Sambisa forest, where the poor are in urgent need of
\nmiracles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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