Politics
IN recent times, the social and mainstream media have been awash with the story of Rev. Father Mbaka’s virulent attack on Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, asserting that he would fail in the 2023 presidential election because he is stingy.
He vowed to even close his Adoration Ministry if Obi ever wins. He urged his teeming parishioners not to vote for Peter Obi. That’s the extent of the spleen he vented on Peter Obi’s candidacy.
The alleged “stinginess” of Peter Obi could be traced back 2018 when Father Mbaka asked Obi to publicly announce the specific amount he would donate to his Adoration ministry. Obi rather wanted Father Mbaka to show him a specific project for him to execute. That did not go down well with Father Mbaka, who warned that except Obi paid the money, he and Atiku Abubakar would not win the 2019 presidential election. His grudge against Peter Obi still persists till today despite the hypocritical apology he made to Obi at the behest of his superiors in the Church.
What Father Mbaka erroneously termed as ‘stinginess’ is actually prudence in financial management. Nigeria now needs a leader who can prudently manage Nigeria’s vast human, material and financial resources to the benefit of the citizenry, not a spendthrift. Peter Obi is the right man considering his antecedents.
Father Mbaka’s utterances and actions run foul of Christian ministerial ethics. First, for a minister to harbour malice and bitterness against a Church member for over four years because of any perceived offence is really contrary to the doctrine of love. Second, it smacks of simony for a minister to curse any person because he/she fails to donate money or reciprocate in cash or in kind any ministerial service rendered.
Donations given or gratitude expressed to a Church or its minister must be willingly and cheerfully done, not under duress or manipulation. God’s power is meant for the glory of God and the blessing of mankind, not an avenue for financial gain. God knows how to reward His ministers.
Our Lord Jesus Christ healed ten lepers but only one came back to show appreciation. Jesus Christ did not curse the nine who did not come back to show appreciation whether in word, cash or kind. Why then should Father Mbaka curse Peter Obi? Who did he learn that from? Definitely not from Jesus Christ our Lord!
While Father Mbaka has the right to vote any presidential candidate of his choice, he should not hide under the cassocks to settle old scores. With an imperial tone of finality, Father Mbaka “decreed” that Peter Obi will never be Nigeria’s President because of his ‘stinginess’.
Father Mbaka is abusing his prophetic office by whimsically arrogating to himself the power to decide who rules in a country. That power is exclusively God’s preserve because He is the only One that “deposes kings and sets up kings …” He is the One “… that rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever He chooses” (Dan. 2: 21; 4: 25,32).
Father Mbaka’s public vilification against Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in pursuit of a personal vendetta, is a great disservice to the Igbo nation. It is most unfortunate that the only Igbo presidential candidate that enjoys nationwide acceptance is being demarketed by a supposedly enlightened priest who knows the current mood of Ndigbo. Like Brutus, Father Mbaka’s cut against Obi, is the “most unkindest cut of all”.
“We commend the Catholic Bishop of Enugu for the stern disciplinary actions taken against the errant priest for putting the ecclesiastical integrity of the Catholic Church in a bad light.
“In solidarity with Ndigbo worldwide, we condemn Father Mbaka’s utterances and actions which are not only inimical to Obi’s political interest, but also against the collective aspiration of Ndigbo and Nigerians at large.
“We equally condemn in the strongest term, all Igbo persons who are playing the roles of spoilers to our political aspiration because of filthy lucre. Be warned,” the statement signed by Apostle Solomon C. Okorie, International President, CAIM and Rev. Francis Ujunwa Simeon, International Secretary, CAIM, said.
– June 26, 2022 @ 17:56 GMT | AI.
Tags: Apostle Solomon C. Okorie CAIM Father Mbaka Peter Obi Rev. Francis Ujunwa Simeon
