BY DR MANZO D. MAIGARI
I join forces with Elder Amos Sheyin and the host of concerned ECWA members who frowned at the conduct of the General Secretary, Rev Yunusa Nmadu, in a petition dated March 9, 2023 to the ECWA president, and published on an online platform, daybreak.ng on March 11, 2023.
This show of shame started long before now and has been a source of serious concern among Christians who are active in the political space. However, such an embarrassment peaked in 2014 in the build-up to the elections that ousted former President Goodluck Jonathan from the corridor of power.
The ECWA General Secretary, however, made history when he herded ECWA pastors into an ambush at the ECWA Goodnews Church, Gumel in Kachia, by the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In the said meeting, he had instructed the clerics to direct all ECWA members to vote PDP in the forthcoming elections in the state or face the wrath of God.
Unfortunately, Rev. Nmadu is not the only one in this dance of shame. The petitioner also mentioned Rev. John Hayab, who they alleged has acquired such notoriety in the same manner the ECWA General Secretary has been portrayed as being irredeemable, gauging by public opinion.
Unfortunately, many pastors, especially of the Southern Kaduna stock, have ruined their reputations and brought shame to the Church. An Anglican Bishop was seen in a video clip striking his shepherd rod and invoking the wrath of God upon any member who dares to vote for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the just concluded presidential elections.
We are also aware that the presidential standard bearer of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar, was in Kafanchan to meet with clerics during the attacks that claimed no fewer than 38 lives in Kagoro, but to the dismay of many, his hosts concluded the meeting without a mention of the incident, let alone to request Atiku to visit the bereaved family members and pay the last respect for those who lost their lives.
This has left observers wondering the motive of the meeting and as well questioning the sanity of the hosts.
When Hon. Jonathan Asake emerged as a gubernatorial candidate of the Labour Party (LP), we all expected the entire Southern Kaduna people and Christians in the state to rally their support for him. We expected church leaders and elders of the region to reach out to our brothers and neighbours and negotiate support for Hon. Asake, but to our chagrin, they alienated him and, instead, launched a smear campaign aimed at denting his reputation. I believe if the church and community leaders had done the needful, Asake would be smelling Kashim Ibrahim House by now.
The petitioners also mentioned Rev. Yusuf Biniyat and labelled his meeting with Her Excellency Dr. Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe as another show of shame. I take exception to that because I organised that meeting. As an active player in politics and a keen observer, I seek to understand things. The Deputy Governor is our daughter and sister, her religion notwithstanding. Therefore, it would be a great folly to alienate her.
It is a known fact that I have devoted time and huge resources to improve the lives of Southern Kaduna people since 2019, in the spheres of Agriculture, political education, financial literacy, strategy, peaceful co-existence, just to name a few. As part of this, I have engaged over 500 pastors Kaduna State and Rev. Biniyat, who I consider a progressive personality, to be a part of this initiative. A major achievement of this initiative is the setting up of an inter-religious committee, comprising Christian and Muslim clerics to foster harmonious co-existence in Southern Kaduna and the state in general.
The Muslim-Muslim ticket almost truncated the gains of this initiative, but constant dialogue served to allay fears, and tension doused over the same-faith ticket. Rev. Biniyat has keyed into this initiative and now can see what others may never see. The mark of a leader is courage to confront the challenges that face his people strategically. I fund all the activities personally and participants include political players, Christian and Muslim clerics, women leaders, youth influencers, etc.
All participants were given stipends, which is next to nothing. The drive, especially for someone like Rev. Biniyat, is patriotism and the need to entrench inter-religious harmony for the attainment of unity in diversity.
So, following Rev. Nmadu’s meeting and the directive to ECWA pastors, I felt indescribable embarrassment and had to request a meeting with the ECWA pastors I have been working with for some time now.
I contacted Her Excellency, the Deputy Governor, who had relocated to Kafanchan for the election to meet with them, and she gladly obliged. At the meeting, Rev. Biniyat merely debunked the claim that ECWA had taken a position on the forthcoming elections, stating that the church is home to members of all political parties and must remain neutral. Though I was unavoidably absent at the meeting, I funded the meeting and can show proof of that.
Southern Kaduna and the ECWA Church should be proud of a courageous, visionary leader like Rev Biniyat and not dump him with an awful lot. The position of Rev Biniyat should be applauded, and in line with the reality that the Church remains a place for all members of all parties.
Dr. Maigari is the Kaduna former Commissioner for Agriculture, from 2015 – 2019
