By Charles Ogbu
THE NIGERIAN MEN OF GOD AND THE REST OF US:

The recent disagreement between the govt and the church, specifically the RCCG over the regulation of religious activities by the former which ended in the resignation of Pastor Enoch Adeboye as the G.O of the Nigerian branch of the RCCG and the sack of Jim Obaeze of the FRCN who implemented the regulation, proves so many things, one of which is that the Nigerian Pastors wield enormous powers to influence govt policies and even force the govt to do its bidding.

Most importantly, this Jim Obaeze sack proves that Nigerian Pastors have the wherewithal to force the Buhari-led govt to reverse most of its anti-people policies, treat the fulani bloodletting with the seriousness it deserves and even curb the rise in Islamic fundamentalism across the country.

The big question is:

Why have these Nigerian Pastors refused to deploy their clout to the service of the common man? How come it is only when their interests are threatened that they remember to exercise their influence???

For instance, thousands of Nigerians, some of whom are members of these churches, have lost their jobs due to the anti-people policies of this govt. Thousand more have been killed in their homes and millions displaced by the fulani terrorists. As I type this, the mostly christian people of southern kaduna are on the verge of going into extinction as a result of the murderous activities of the fulani terrorists.

But surprisingly, the Buhari govt has been protecting these murderous fulanis while governor Elrufai has been paying them to keep killing innocent people as he recently confessed.

Why has Adeboye and co not bothered to exercise thesame influence they exercised in this Jim Obaeze case? Is it that these Pastors value their personal interests over and above the lives of these helpless Nigerians who look up to them for spiritual guidance?

Not too long ago, a Redeemed pastor, Mrs Eunice Elisha was gruesomely murdered in Kubwa, Abuja by some Islamic barbarians. Redeemed Christian Church Of God is Pastor Enoch Adeboye's church and the murdered woman (Eunice) was his pastor. But what did he do/say?

Nothing!

But now that his position as the G.O was threatened, he spoke out and his speaking out led to the sack of a govt official.

Mrs Bridget Agbohime was murdered in Kano and her murderers were set free by the kano state govt. The federal govt could have taken over the case as it did in the case of Joe Umunnakwe who named his dog 'Buhari' in Ogun state but it refused and the murdered woman was denied Justice.

Yet, most of these so called men of God who are supposed to be the conscience of our society maintained criminal silence.

The G.O of Winner Chapel worldwide, pastor David Oyedepo has never commented on any of the aforementioned incident. But the moment some Nigerians criticised the high fees he charges in his schools, he came out to inaundate us with tales of how Jesus personally fixed the fees for him and threatened to infect anyone who dare criticise him with mouth odour.

Neither boko haram nor the marauding Fulani terrorists deserve Oyedepo's mouth odour? And the mouth odour threat just had to be issued at no other time than when Oyedepo's business interest was threatened?

Father Ejike Mbaka is a very influential priest who commands large followership:

Under Mbaka's watch, a seminarian was butchered by the marauding fulanis. Hundreds more have been killed in Mbaka's home state of Enugu and even his own town. But, just so he doesn't ruin his cozy relationship with president Buhari, Mbaka has never condemned the fulani killing and the proven cases of criminal complicity of Buhari and his security Chiefs in these bloodletting. Even when Catholic Bishops, priests and sisters came out in protest against the killings, Mbaka chose to stay away.

But, when thesame Mbaka was issued with a letter of transfer, he regained his tongue and cried to high heavens.

The truth is bitter but it must still be said:

Most Nigerian Men of God are conscience-less. They are in the church mainly to enrich themselves. These men are full of god but devoid of good. They are better referred to as Pastorprenuers. Just as an average Nigerian politician see politics as a means of enriching himself, some of these jet-flying Daddy G.Os see their church as their business empire rather than a soul-winning avenue for God.

Now, before you come here to defend your pastors with the archaic "don't judge" line, you will do well to read about prophet Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah etc. Those old testament Men of God stood on the side of the common man and opposed wicked rulers who were oppressing the people then. Elijah stood up to the tyranny of the wicked queen Jezebel. Jeremiah's constant wailing earned him the tag "Jeremiah, the weeping prophet"

Any man, pastor or not, who places his personal interest over and above the sacred duty of defending the right to life of the common man, is a very repulsive man undeserving of any form of respect among decent people.

Some Nigerian Men of God are a disgrace to the body of Christ! These guys mock God daily with their soulless hypocrisy and criminal complicity in the grave injustices the common man is subjected to in this country by the political hawks masquerading as our leaders.

I know some of you religious fanatics will ignore every other thing I've said here and chose to come for my head in defence of your Pastors but before you do, I only have one question for you:

What do you think President Buhari will do if Bishop Adeboye (let us not even include Oyedepo, Lazarus Muoka, Mbaka, TB Joshua etc for now) were to use thesame clout he wielded in this Jim Obaeze's case to issue a statement condemning Buhari's silence in the face of the mindless bloodletting by his Fulani kinsmen??? What if Oyedepo, Muoka, Mbaka, TB Joshua etc were to do thesame either individually or collectively??

Imagine if they were to issue a strong-worded statement against the govt-sponsored genocide in Southern Kaduna??

Do you think Buhari will defy warnings from these influential Pastors or you think he will be forced to act decisively against these fulani killings, thereby savings millions of lives including those of your loved ones????

Think about this!