In Ghana, a certain man of God was recently reported to have bathed female members of his church naked inside his church auditorium. It was at the 2021/2022 crossover service. The viral video of the incident shows each of the women coming before the pastor to undress. Then they enter a big bowl in front of the pastor for the ‘holy bath’. When the pastor is done, he covers each of the women up with a towel. They then move to another man who rubs anointing oil on them, while another person gives them back their underwear to wear. The congregation punctuates every action of the pastor with chants of joy. You don’t blame them because the pastor claimed that Holy Spirit directed him to do what he did. And that the ‘holy bath’ was to cleanse the members so they could be ‘holy and pure.’
In this same Ghana, in 2019, a pastor took his bath in his church called Endtime Church of Nations and asked his members to drink the bathwater. The pastor reportedly told his congregants that it was an instruction from God and that anyone who drank it would get more blessings. His followers lined up to drink the bathwater.
These bizarre acts of pastors appear to be worse in South Africa. In that country, a pastor reportedly farted on the faces of his congregants in Limpopo, saying his farts possessed healing powers and they were a demonstration of God’s power. In 2014, a pastor at Garankuwa, which is north of Pretoria, instructed his members to feed on grass. According to him, it was a way of bringing them closer to God. Some church members are known to have eaten snakes, swallowed petrol, bleach and Dettol, all in the name of God. Funnily, a South African self-styled prophet called Paseka Motsoeneng had claimed taking a tour of heaven where he took pictures with his smart phone. To see the pictures, his church members were required to pay some huge sums of money. There are many other bizarre acts, including vomiting money and using church members as foot mat, which some self-styled pastors perform to win converts and make money for themselves.
Here in Nigeria, many ‘men of God’ do many strange things and attribute them to the Holy Spirit. They normally start with a statement like, “the Holy Spirit said I should tell you bla bla bla!” You are expected to believe because the Bible tells us that blessed are those who do not see but believe.
In March 2020, operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Intelligence Response Team in Lagos arrested a 44-year-old woman used by fraudulent pastors to perform fake miracles in different churches in Nigeria. The woman, Mrs. Bose Olasukanmi, used to receive some monetary reward for every successful performance. She had reportedly performed in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abakaliki before the police closed in on her.
No doubt, times are hard. COVID-19 has dealt with people. Some individuals have lost their jobs. They will look for miracles to survive. And evil pastors and false prophets are ever ready to exploit the situation.
In the name of this same Holy Spirit, Rev. Father Ejike Mbaka, the spiritual director of the Adoration Ministry Enugu Nigeria (AMEN), was quoted to have made some statements I find distasteful and disrespectful to his bishop and to the Catholic Church. At his crossover night message for the year 2022, Mbaka reportedly claimed there was an assassination plot against him after his row with his diocese last May. He was said to have subtly accused his bishop, Callistus Onaga, of having a hand in the plot. He warned against pushing him (Mbaka) to the level of rebellion and noted that he had thousands of followers ready to defend him.
Recall that Mbaka had exchanged words with the Presidency last May. He had attacked President Muhammadu Buhari, asking him to resign or be impeached over bad governance. His bishop, who had repeatedly cautioned him against meddling in politics, frowned upon this turn of events and sanctioned him. He directed him to move to any place outside his house or ministry. Even if the bishop was wrong in his decision, Mbaka was bound to obey him. Most of us thought he did. But he reportedly informed his followers in his crossover message that the Holy Spirit told him not to do what he was asked to do.
In the Catholic Church, there is hierarchy and order. It is the bishop who ordains a priest. And during that ordination, a priest vows to obey the constituted authorities of the Church as well as the commandments of God. I wouldn’t know why Mbaka talked to his superiors in the manner he reportedly did. It is left for his bishop to take appropriate actions.
Nevertheless, men of God have their peculiar ways. Some of them who are prophets have given us a potpourri of their annual prophesies for this year. Every New Year, they reel out what God reveals to them concerning some individuals, Nigeria and the rest of the world. This year is no exception.
My only worry is that some of them have ended up sowing seeds of discord in many families. They enter a family in the name of family liberation and begin to conjure imaginary enemies for the family. They order cutting down of some economic trees, claiming that witches are harboured there. They pit brothers against one another. Some gullible people believe them because Holy Spirit purportedly said so.
A relative of mine went into an emergency marriage recently because a pastor told him Holy Spirit directed that he should marry a particular woman. Despite protests from his parents and siblings, he still went ahead with the wedding at a secret location without any support from any member of his family. His family members strongly believe he was bewitched by the pastor.
I do not begrudge these self-styled pastors. Man must survive. We all have our different callings. It’s all geared towards making ends meet and putting food on our table. If these ‘pastors’ did not do certain things like performing some miracles or making predictions, they might not attract many members to their church. And the church will not grow.
Once the church gathers enough population, the next most important thing to preach about is paying of tithe or sowing of seed. It is the most important thing that will liberate you and open the doors of heaven for you. Salvation is relegated to the background.
As the Bible put it, my people perish for lack of knowledge. We must emancipate ourselves from mental slavery. As the legendary Bob Marley sang, none but ourselves can free our minds. No doubt, there are genuine pastors and men of God. You know them when you see them. They radiate humility, honesty, contentment, genuine love for mankind, and lack of interest in personal material acquisition. All they are after is how to make heaven. After all, the holy books tell us that this world is not our home, we must store our wealth in heaven where mites and rodents will not eat it and where thieves will not steal it.
I pray, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, that this year will be a year of liberation for all gullible minds in Nigeria. Amen!
Re: Igbo annual ritual amid Asaba traffic jam
Casmir, the progress associated with Ndigbo globally is rooted in their communal life. It’s in their nature and cannot be extinguished by any means. Every community has realized the effectiveness of communal life. The development that is witnessed today in Igboland to the amazement of strangers has its secret in it. Each community uses this period to examine the progress of their members and their community in relation to other neighborhood. It affords them the opportunity to address the issues in their community through donations, levies etc to ensure that the community moves in line with other communities in their neighborhood. It’s also this period that the ‘igba boi’ phenomenon is promoted as some masters settle their boys and new ones are taken. The ‘aku luo uno’ phenomenon is also made real this period as it affords each community the opportunity to assess individual and community development. The survival of Ndi Igbo after the civil war destruction of their wealth, 20 pounds and abandoned property saga is from this communal life. To every real Igbo, the benefits of the communal life outweigh any artificial frustration militating against this annual ritual.
-Pharm Okwuchukwu Njike, +234 803 885 4922
Dear Casmir, urban-rural drift during festive period is an economic opportunity to encourage rural development. So, state and local government should emphasize the construction of amusement parks, zoological gardens and other tourist attractions in rural areas. With these, there’ll be less congestion in our cities.
– Cletus Frenchman, Enugu, +234 909 538 5215
Casmir, of the lot that you wrote on, I find the aspect where the people in your communities embark on various projects fascinating. This calls for emulation by different communities in Nigeria. Government cannot do it alone. Kudos to the different age grades that you mentioned and more power to their elbows. The traffic jam is understandable since more motorists hit the road during this period. Government should speed up the completion of the 2nd Niger Bridge to ameliorate this challenge. Casy, this is only for your ears, is PMB trying to get a ‘huge severance package’ from the masses via oil subsidy removal? Is APC broke? Do they need money to finance the electioneering of its presidential candidate since ‘Tinubu funds’ won’t be available this time round? Wonder why PMB wants to add more headaches to the ‘serious migraine of problems’ that he has now. Welcome back to your desk.
-Mike, Mushin, Lagos, +2348161114572