YINKA ADEOSUN FROM PUNCH
Afẹ́fẹ́tifẹ́, asìtirífùrọ̀adìyẹ transliterated to mean “The wind has blown, we can now see the rump of the hen”. With the successful inauguration of the next administration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the coast is clear to name and shame the prophets and nay-sayers who prophesied and foresaw darkness and gloom on this day. Some had even predicted that Peter Obi, the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party would be arrested before the inauguration and that Tinubu would not be sworn in. Obi is walking free, and May 29 has come and gone. A new president has been inaugurated, and we are all living witnesses.
This piece is intended to speak truth to all concerned and not to denigrate any individuals or institutions. The showmanship, brinkmanship, parochialism and acts of gangsterism that greeted the 2023 general elections were quite unusual and disturbing. Since the return to civilian rule in 1999, electioneering seasons are often marked with some virulent activities which have become synonymous with electioneering. But 2023 was kind of peculiar. It was good to see increased awareness of youths but then the rascality of some ethnic bigots brought some dangerous dimensions to the election.
The 2023 general elections stood out from all others since 1999. Whereas there were two major contenders in all other elections, this year’s election had three. The results of the elections, as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), are a clear departure from previous ones. Unlike the previous elections where the winner had a landslide, this year’s election results showed a clear departure from the norm. This result had the three major contenders showing strengths and impact across the country.
Religious clerics seem to now have a permanent place during the elections. This is not unexpected. After all, religion plays a powerful role in politics, and the relationship between the two is dynamic. Although Nigeria is a secular state on paper, the governance of all 36 states cannot be separated from the religious views of its people. Governors and their deputies are given religious considerations before they are accepted by the people.
Prior to his inauguration in 1999, a pastor had ‘prophesied’ that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo would die before D-Day. Many had feared that he would die and not become the president. Baba was not only sworn in, but he also completed two terms totalling eight years. Obasanjo is still very much alive today, making a falsehood of that ‘prophecy’.
It is sad that clerics have proliferated prophecies and predictions during elections just as they have continued to raise laziness and false hope among their worshippers. Men and women who should protect the sanctity of the pulpit have commercialised the same with the perfidy of the god of mammon. Today, an institution that prides itself as the city set on a hill has desecrated that status and descended so low to become a cesspit of commercialisation. With the scandals that trail the “men of God”, one cannot but wonder if these men were really of God, or of their belly. It is not surprising that they have become the butt of comedians. “Some of them were not called by God, but they are the ones that called God”, comedians now aver.
As the custodian of theology and divinity in any religious setting, pastors are arguably more important than the pew. The pew looks up to them for what the Lord says. In the polity, pastors are citizens and are entitled to support anyone that they may choose to. But when a cleric gets emotional to the system and uses the pulpit to openly support or go against any political party or candidate, his fatherly role is called to question, as you can be sure that his congregation would have a mix of party faithful. I doubt if there is a church whose members all voted 100% for the same party/candidate. With this, religious houses should desist from electoral shenanigans, and be mindful of the political diversity of their congregation. Anything else outside of this cannot be of God.
