Mbaka: Buhari Revelation Vs the People -By Ken Tadaferua

Reverend Father Ejike Mbaka

“Many people are planning, as it is revealed, to kill him. There are many plans on how to eliminate his life so that corruption will continue, so that quantum embezzlement will continue.

“But the Lord says ‘God who put you there will not forsake you. Be firm, be resolute, remain focused, and be unbiased. Refuse to be intimidated and refuse to be distracted.

“Go ahead and war against evil. President Buhari, go ahead and war against corruption.’” – Rev. Father Ejike Mbaka

This recent revelation by Rev. Mbaka has unleashed alarming shock waves in the polity. Plans to kill the president over his anti-corruption campaigns? This is very serious. But the tragedy is that Mbaka did not reveal names, even one name, among the many people, he says, have plans to assassinate Mr. President. Nor did he reveal where the assassination plots held or are holding.

The revelation is so shorn of details and facts that any street urchin could have made the same claim. But unlike Mbaka, being a priest of the Church, the street urchin risks arrest and bloody interrogation by fierce security agents, as well as possible arraignment in court to prove the veracity of such wild claim or be thrown into jail for the rest of his miserable life.

Not so for Mbaka. He is a man of the cloth. He is anointed as a servant in the vineyard of the Lord. So he is not likely to be arrested. Moreover, after his open support for Buhari during the election campaigns, he has maintained a chummy relationship with the president which cements his untouchable armour.

A consequence of such extraordinary freedom from the responsibility of providing the gritty details of his revelation is that Mbaka will get bolder and will release even more outlandish revelations as time goes.

A fallout of the revelation is that suddenly all who are critical of the president have become likely assassination suspects. The security agencies must of necessity be agitated enough to raise the level of security alert to high red, increase the monitoring of likely and unlikely critics of Mr. President and possibly double the security cordon around President Buhari.

Also, the growing number of loud critics of Buhari’s policies and actions leading to crashing standards of living for citizens, may have to either quit criticising or go underground to avoid falling into the itchy fingers of security agents who are anxious to fish out the “many people planning to kill the president.” Rev. Mbaka may achieve in the short run, what I suspect is the real motive behind his revelation, the stifling of growing dissent against Buhari.

But hunger can only be stifled for a while. Rev. Mbaka, the people are losing jobs, businesses are crashing, inflation is soaring, naira/dollar exchange rate has more than doubled, the worst ever in Nigerian history, hunger and poverty are mushrooming. Yet, these things do not seem to touch your priestly soul. The sheep, the people of God, are crying, but he sees no revelation for the people. He seeks to protect rather than advise the leader whose policies are responsible for worsening economic and social disruptions.

It is a good thing that God Almighty works in mysterious ways. For it is gratifying that a superior of Rev. Mbaka in the Catholic Church, His Eminence Anthony Olubunmi Okojie, Cardinal, Archbishop Emeritus of Lagos, sent a different message in an open letter to President Buhari on behalf of the people.

Cardinal Okojie in the very first paragraph of the letter wrote:

“Last year, when you assumed office, the chant of ‘Change’ your campaign slogan, ushered you into the Presidential Villa. Today, cries of ‘hunger’ could be heard across the length and breadth of our vast country.

“Nigerians hunger, not only for food, but also for good leadership, for peace, security, and justice. This letter is to appeal to you to do something fast, and, if you are already doing something, to redouble your effort.”

This is heartwarming. Not all our church leaders have abandoned the people to only see visions for kings. It is perhaps important to ask why Rev. Mbaka did not have revelations to save the lives of over 300 unarmed Shiites murdered in cold blood by Buhari’s soldiers or the scores of Biafra agitators mowed down with military weapons. Are those citizens not humans created by God? Are they not deserving of protection like Mr. President? If only Rev. Mbaka had a revelation that President Buhari’s military will slaughter those citizens, they perhaps would be alive today.

When priests, like journalists, become more leadership than people oriented in their duties, I get very nervous and suspicious of their roles in improving society, no matter how compelling the leadership support may be. In particular, in Nigeria, where the people groan under the weight of elite and leadership greed and deception. Some would argue that beating corruption will end the great suffering in the land.

Even if we accept this view and posit that efficiency and visionary practical policies are secondary to fighting corruption, what has Buhari’s anti-corruption war achieved in 15 months of being president? The arrests of a few opposition party bigwigs? The corruptly padded 2016 budget and smelly revelations still oozing? The continued raging fires of corruption at all levels of government? Where is the umbrella vision, strategy and execution plans to deal with corruption? Is it limited to arrests? That has been a failed approach in the past five decades. So what’s new?

Well, while we chew on these issues, permit me to call on Rev. Mbaka to spare the nation the raised high levels of suspicion and tension triggered by his assassination revelation. He could be more detailed and publicly name the wicked plotters of such great evil.

Thereafter Rev. Mbaka should train his prayers and meditations on the growing poverty and hunger around him. For millions of the common folks are dying unsung.

Ken Tadaferua is a media and marketing communications consultant. Twitter: @ktadaferua