By Evaristus Bassey
FINALLY I had to watch the two videos of Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka that were trending in the social media after many calls from friends and acquaintances who needed clarifications. On the first video, I had the impression that he was being patronising because the First Lady was in attendance. As it was a harvest/fundraising event and he was face to face with such a personality as the First Lady requesting his prayers, as a special guest, he just had to oblige and wish her well; only that it sounded a little too sycophantic and pedestrian. He absolved Jonathan of all blame concerning the Chibok girls and gave him an excellent score for his performance in government but for the ‘distractions’ he was facing.
I believe this was Fr. Ejike Mbaka’s true opinion of the situation of things. There are many people who believe Jonathan has done quite well but for the ‘distraction’ of Boko Haram and the opposition. I add that whatever Jonathan has been able to accomplish has been in order to prove a point that he could deliver, and such ‘distractions’, except for Boko Haram, are necessary for our democracy. Without the criticism of civil society, without being underestimated, without the opposition elements, without being boxed somehow into a corner, I believe the PDP government of Jonathan would remain terribly lack-lustre except for the now highly performing and advanced skills of corrupt self-enrichment implanted during the Obasanjo third term campaign. As Obasanjo has said, corruption has left the corridors of power to offices, toilets and bedrooms.
Nevertheless, separating fact from fiction, it is not possible for a government to be in place for nearly six years and not do something good. For instance, most people I speak with claim electricity has actually improved. But this is in Cross River. Of course, where I live in Abuja had long known improvement in electricity. Right here in Abuja, I have seen a difference in terms of roads from when I came over in 2010. People are talking about the railway system and agriculture and the economy; although as a Church we do not see economic growth merely in terms of GDP but the totality of well being of the citizen, which is down the ladder. Those who say Jonathan or the PDP government has not done anything good are either blind or downright mischievous.
My main problem with Jonathan is that he is only beginning to gain confidence. For a long time his presidential carriage and speech delivery were abysmal in their poverty and therefore equally yoked in their ability to inspire confidence. He didn’t seem to have confidence in himself and obviously could not make anyone have confidence in him as a leader. Therefore, that essential characteristic of leadership as envisioning, as an ability to perceive the ‘future’ and take people there with all intentionality was short in supply. Leadership became a matter of merely reacting to problems rather than intending and pursuing a ‘future’ state of wellbeing. I kept wondering whether in a country of over 167 million persons, this was the one we could bring forward. His poise and perception made people treat him and his office with the least respect, such as when Buhari, a former Head of State would deride him and severally say ‘Arrest me if you can…’ And by the way, for all such utterances and actions in the past, I would not vote for Buhari. I believe this perceived body language of a publicly insecure president gave impetus to the armed local and international Islamic groups who took over the politically motivated post elections violent protests and turned them into a military campaign for an Islamic enclave. A government with proper visioning capacity would have perceived the transition and worked towards preventing it.
After watching the second video, my reflection was that Fr. Mbaka probably received a barrage of criticism over his endorsement of Jonathan during the First Lady’s visit and began to feel guilty. His detailed reference to the fact that it was Adamu Ciroma that made the statement about making the country ungovernable and not Buhari, seemed to me that he had taken time to educate himself or as alleged, APC had paid a courtesy call on him. At this point, Fr. Mbaka became so partisan and spoke more or less as an APC stalwart. I for one cannot totally absolve Buhari of blame for the violence that emerged and escalated into the Boko Haram imbroglio, because if he had spoken out early enough and strongly so, it would have helped stem the violent tide. Rather, he seemed to totally enjoy the unfolding violent scenarios and even seemed to defend Boko Haram initially.
One thing we cannot take away from Fr. Mbaka’s address is that it reflects the sentiments of many Nigerians. Saying that Goodluck has turned into bad luck is a common beer parlour talk of many Nigerians. Take the number of displaced persons for instance, as a result of the terrorism of the Islamic militants. While most of those displaced are putting up with relatives and well meaning Nigerians, such that some households have up to 30 persons each living in them, the official statistics of internally displaced persons as given by National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), in the three states of the State of Emergency as at December 1, 2014 are as follows: Borno 402,810 internally displaced persons, Adamawa 160,198 and Yobe 116,538. These were persons identified in various camps, as a result of the terrorist action of Boko Haram. These statistics do not include the displaced persons as a result of the Fulani cattlemen invasion of communities in Plateau, Nasarawa, Taraba, and parts of Benue State. At no time in Nigerian history have we had such misery in the populace. And now the Naira has been devalued because our foreign earnings have dropped drastically and affected the value of the currency, due essentially to the drop in oil prices. A robust foreign reserve would have helped but state governors would mount pressure on the federal government to share all revenue. Nigerian governments whether at local, state or federal levels are driven by a neurotic urge to share what is available without much thought for future generations. A proper external reserve regime would have cushioned more effectively the shocks on the economy and the naira.
Of course many of these issues seem beyond the control of Jonathan. Take the ineptitude of the army for instance and the reported sabotage; what really could he do about that? Or even the slide in oil prices? But as a leader, we look up to him to be miles ahead, being natural to blame or praise whoever is in charge; and if the heat in the kitchen is too much for him, he must leave the kitchen. Napoleon said: “Circumstances? I create them.” It is poverty of leadership when one who is supposed to inspire hope seems quite helpless; when citizens make jest of the assurances of a leader, it is time to leave the scene. For the mere fact that Jonathan’s army have not been able to bring back the girls from Chibok, in other climes where people have a sense of shame, the commander-in-chief would have known that the elections were lost already. But then this is Nigeria where anything goes.
As for Fr. Mbaka, he is not speaking for the Catholic Church, neither am I doing so now, even as I occupy an office that could so speak. Any reasonable person would know that Fr. Mbaka is on his own, and only his Bishop can sanction him. People should also know that such priests as Fr. Mbaka quench a certain spiritual hunger and thirst in the hearts of hundreds of thousands of poor citizens who are ever seeking someone to give them hope of a miracle; and so while they may veer off sometimes, they fill a certain gap and thereby present a dilemma to their Bishops who may be torn between serving the people and sanctioning a priest who sometimes is a jerk. Father Mbaka was therefore expressing his personal opinion, which sometimes could be dramatic and misleading, such as when he said he would pull out his cassock if Chimaroke Nnamani won elections again as governor of Enugu State. Of course Chimaroke won and became second tenure governor of Enugu State and Fr. Mbaka did not pull off his cassock. This goes to show that even in a Church perceived by outsiders as conservative and ‘monolithic’ as the Catholic Church, you could find a few priests who do all they can to seek relevance.
PDP should not shiver just because Fr. Mbaka sneezed. APC should not also rejoice, because Fr. Mbaka could have another ‘vision’ tomorrow which totally lambasts Buhari, especially now that there are revelations that while Buhari may not have been corrupt himself, he showed great ineptitude in dealing with the corruption that took place in the Petroleum Trust Fund. Buhari seems to be a leader who leaves so much to his deputies that he does not take proper charge. A Buhari presidency of course will be less tolerant of corruption. But I for one will never vote Buhari. Nor will I vote for Jonathan. There must be another party out there. As Soyinka has said, all of us cannot suffer such amnesia, as to forget the repression of the Buhari era. I cannot forget so easily the contempt Buhari displayed towards the office of the President and the un-statesmanlike attitude he adopted in the wake of the post election violent protests and the initial Boko Haram terrorist actions.
• Fr. Evaristus Bassey is Director Church and Society and Executive Secretary Caritas Nigeria at the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria.
