The Squeeze on Freedom of Worship is on in Nigeria.

by Eze Eluchie,

By falling for the trap set up for them, Pentecostal churches have set the pace for further regulations which will eventually lead to their extinction, and which may adversely impact freedom to practice the Christian faith in Nigeria and compound the several schisms afflicting the Nigerian contraption.

Citing a ‘new legal requirement’ announced by the Financial Regulation Council which forbids heads of religious organizations from holding office for more than 20 years, the Chief Executive Officer and General Overseer of one of Nigeria’s largest Pentecostal churches, of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) announced that he was stepping aside from his leadership position of the Nigerian branch of the Church, though he would still retain control as the head of the ‘international arm’ of the Church {a cunningly spurious attempt at compliance with the regulations}. Other Pentecostal Churches were also cited as being on the verge of similar compliance with the FRC’s regulations.

When it is realized that previously, the membership of these churches had thought, or been made to believe, that their leaders were ‘God-ordained’ or the ‘Elect-of-God’/’Man-of-God’, then the assault on religious freedoms and beliefs occasioned by the FRC’s regulation becomes more apparent. If religious leaders can be forced to depart office by virtue of so-called legal requirements of the Financial Regulations Council, then more regulation and harm is in sight. One does not need to be a rocket scientist to conclude that the Sultan of Sokoto, who also doubles as the head of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, will not comply with this regulation and step aside from this position – the target of the ‘financial regulations’ are crystal clear from the announcement of the regulations. This same Sultan, in flagrant display of his self-accorded 'supra-constitutional' status, had stated unequivocally that Muslims cannot be expected to comply with provisions the Nigerian Constitution for equality of the sexes; as such equality is not in conformity with injunctions of the Islamic faith.

Interestingly, these Pentecostal Churches as exemplified by Mr. Enoch Adeboye (alias G.O./CEO of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, whose Personal Assistant also surreptitiously happens to be his own son and who opted on a queer ethnocentric appointments of his own replacements) and his cohorts, who are blinded by greed and the desire to retain their ‘closeness’ to the political rulers, have unwittingly set an unquenchable fire on their own house, a fire that will consume much more than the personalities who fell for the trap.

With the high flying Pentecostal pastors, some of who own fleet of private jets whilst most of their congregation exist below the poverty line, queuing in line to comply with regulations from the FRC, will the Islam-centric government of Muhammadu Buhari feel emboldened to tell the Catholic or Anglican Bishops or other Heads of so-called orthodox churches to forcefully vacate office? Is this scenario the next phase of these FRC regulations? Will these Churches take such interference lying low?

These Pentecostals have set the stage for further regulations, perhaps regulating time and length of prayers, size of congregations, declarations of tithes and other incomes et al. .....

Picture: CEO/General Overseer of one of Nigeria’s richest and fastest growing Pentecostal churches, Mr. Enoch Adeboye. 

The Lame-Duck President Hiatus – Unhelpful for Emerging Democracies.

by Eze Eluchie,

The disdain and odium the ‘lame-duck’ posture foisted on the occupant of an executive political office (particularly that of President) by virtue of the time lag between the election of a new candidate and the departure of the incumbent from office, often times presents a risky and fluid transitional period which if not properly controlled may lead to unsavoury outcomes. For instance, whilst the pacifist nature of former Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan, who conceded defeat early as soon as it was clear he had no path towards being re-elected had served to douse tension and give the incoming President a smooth path to office, ensuring a smooth ‘lame-duck’ period; on the other hand, the picturesque West African country of The Gambia, is currently in a state of political flux resulting from comments made by the President-elect and some of his supporters during President Yahya Jammeh’s ‘lame-duck’ period, after the incumbent had publicly conceded defeat, were deemed sufficiently provocative and troubling for the incumbent and his supporters, for the incumbent to renege on his earlier resolve to depart office at the end of his tenure and support the President-elect/incoming President.

In the case of the United States, the space between 8^th November of the election year and the 20^th January handover date has always served to facilitate a smooth transition, preparing the incumbent to ease out in peace whilst allowing the incoming President sufficient time to understudy the enormity of functions and issues to be addressed by US Presidency distinct from the euphoria of electoral campaigns. This arrangement, which had worked near seamlessly for decades, is now unraveled in a most unpalatable way, leading to the ridiculing and scaring of the exalted office of the President of the United States.

After his party’s candidate lost in the Presidential polls despite his having thrown in all the political capital he could muster into the fray, including degenerating into some uncouth language in response to now President-elect Donald Trump’s bombastic and highly unrestrained gutter approach to campaigning, US President Barack Obama was left in the very awkward situation where his successor in office had promised to virtually wipe away whatsoever legacies he, Obama, might have laboured for during his stint in the White House these past eight years.

In a bid to preserve his legacies, particularly in the areas of environmental protection/conservation and health insurance, President Obama had to resort to Executive actions which to all intents and purposes were geared to frustrating the ability of his successor-in-office to easily roll-back achievements of the Obama presidency – incredulous as it was, a US President was in effect, undermining the abilities of his successor-in-office to succeed/fulfill his electoral promises. 

Had the schism been restricted to domestic affairs, it would have been partially all well and good. Things however get murkier when the efforts to undermine the successor regime got extended to involve actions impacting on foreign authorities and Governments. From the surprising abstention in a UN Security Council vote against the State of Israel, to a scathing address, shortly thereafter by US Secretary of State, John Kerry, castigating the Government of Israel and the decision to expel 35 Russian Embassy officials and the closure of two Russian diplomatic building in the US, the outgoing administration of Barrack Obama seemed to have become hyper-active in seeking to undermine the powers and integrity of the succeeding Government of the US. The actions concerning the State of Israel had clearly been geared towards stoking ill-will against the incoming Trump administration which had promised to revive US-Israeli relationships, a relationship which had gone sour during the Obama days, and recognize Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel; whilst the Russian diplomatic face-off was clearly aimed at rubbishing the promised rapprochement Trump had assured the US electorate he intended to seek with the Russians and making any efforts by the incoming President Trump to fulfil the pledge on Russia appear at variance with common sense and the interests of the United States.

For the stature of the United States, the age old injunction never to wash dirty linen in public soon came haunting. In response to the Secretary of State’s comments against the State of Israel, in addition to the unprecedented and swift tongue-lashing of the US Secretary of State’s comments by the Israeli Prime Minister, the British Government, (yes, even the British Government who ordinarily would never utter a sound against any US position), felt emboldened enough to condemn John Kerry’s remarks. On its part, the very matured Russian response of no response whatsoever, to the extremely hasty expulsion of Russian Embassy staff and closure of Embassy premises, certainly portrayed the US presidency in poor light before the international community.

The lacuna in leadership in the White House created by the lame-duck period, made more prominent by the confusion as to who was really in charge, with the in-coming President tweeting policy statements and making pronouncements which further diminished the stature of the incumbent occupant of the US Presidency. Many outside the United States felt moved to respond more to utterances from the incoming who had a full term ahead in the White House than the out-going who with less than 2 months left in his tenure was more focused on ‘protecting legacies’ than governance; the post-election transitional period in the US presidency is proving to be a huge burden to not only the stature of the US but also to the transitional process in a democracy.

The United States has a long and well established pedigree in democratic governance and practices, and so has inbuilt institutional structures and mechanisms to withstand the affront posed by the Lame-Duck period or the likelihood of an in-coming President being publicly disrespectful and cantankerous of the incumbent out-going President. Sub-Sahara African states or others with yet evolving democratic structures might not have the patience and capacity to withstand the tension and pressure inherent in the Lame-duck period.   

Why should anybody outside of the United States and particularly non-citizen of the US be concerned about the any diminution in the stature of the Office of the President of the US? Just like the collapse of the Soviet Union, which had hitherto served as a balancing factor in international affairs and relations was a great minus for the global community; the loss of stature of an Office that personified the ideals of democratic precepts should likewise be of concern to the international community as a whole.

Soon enough, the consequences of the US having an inward-focused President with diminished global stature and respect will come haunting. Already, increased volatility in relationships between South Korea and Japan, a likely 4^th Intifada, and a weakened NATO are but a tip of the iceberg of what portends to be an interesting period for global affairs and inter-State relations sequel to the self-inflicted wounds of the lame-duck period of the US presidency. 

Picture: The outgoing 44^th and incoming 45^th US Presidents.

Pyrrhic Victory: Buhari Celebrates the ‘Capture’ of a Piece of Rag!

by Eze Eluchie,

What really did Mr. Buhari and his military commanders think they had achieved by ‘capturing’ a rag-tag hand painted flag of Boko Haram from the over-hyped Sambissa Forest? Is the piece of cloth representative of the Boko Haram spirit and its 'capture' thus indicative of the end of Boko Haram?

Did Buhari and his Officers mistake this rag-tag piece of cloth for the ‘Military Colors’ associated with standard armies that must be protected at all costs and never be captured? Are Nigerians and the wider international community supposed to applaud this ‘feat’?  

It is perhaps high time an evaluation of the curricular of the various Military trainning courses some of our military leaders attend is undertaken, to ascertain the efficacy of such training to modern day realities. It’s either the curricular of such military training institutions are suspect or Nigeria has been sending intellectually challenged personnel to such institutions leading to graduates of such institutions not imbibing what they had been taught. I doubt that the Military training institutions in Aldershot, Sandhurst, Carlisle or Chennai, on which Nigeria has spent several millions of dollars on training of military officers could have taught our soldiers to celebrate the capture of a rag from a bunch of terrorists.

The fact that what they claim to have ‘captured’ is at variance with the known Boko Haram flag does not seem to douse their misplaced sense of achievement. And to imagine that the 'captured' flag was handed over to the Commander-in-Chief at an elaborate event held at the official residence of the President, to which the media was invited!@# 

Clearly, these guys are far more clueless than one had ever envisioned – and the malaise is clearly getting worse by the day.

Picture: Nigeria President, Muhammadu Buhari receiving the ‘captured’ Boko Haram ‘flag’ from Major General Irabor (Commander of Nigeria Army’s Operation Lafiya Dole) at a lavish ceremony in the State House, Abuja; second pix, Abubakar Shekau, with the Boko Haram ‘flag’ serving as his background.