Recently, Bishop David Oyedepo, the founder of the Living Faith Church also known as Winners Chapel proclaimed that he will open the gate of hell on all those who oppose President Goodluck Jonathan while Father Mbaka showed his support for incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan and later reversed his support for the President. This seems to be the current trend of preachers in Nigeria.
But Naij.com writer and contributor on political issues has come out
to argue that clergymen shouldn’t air their political views and he gives
his reasons why. Read his piece below.
Section 95(3) of the Electoral Act 2010, makes it illegal to promote or attack any candidate or political party in a place of worship. In the past few weeks we have seen religious blatantly break this law; and worse, have the electorate feast on these unlawful and reckless actions by those who should ordinarily serve as a beacon to all.
An uproar erupted on Sunday following the news that Bishop David Oyedepo of The Living Faith Church had openly solicited support for President Goodluck Jonathan who is contesting election. The cleric used very strong words: “We will open the gate of hell on those who oppose you,” he told the president during his sermon.
Oyedepo’s gaffe is very similar to that by popular Catholic priest, Ejike Mbaka, a few weeks ago. During his traditional end-of-year mass at the Adoration Ground in Enugu, Mbaka reversed his earlier support for the president and blatantly asked his congregation not to vote for Jonathan; a development made the more absurd by the fact that he had famously recently declared First Lady Patience Jonathan as “the next first lady in 2015”.
These clerics, and others, have further damaged the respect that should ordinarily be accorded to religious leaders in a nation as religious as Nigeria. It is indeed the height of absurdity that religion is being used to sway a gullible electorate.
Religious leaders have abandoned the dignity of their calling and influence for the gutters of partisan politics. Pulpits all over the country have now been turned to podiums to market or de-market candidates; most times at a price.
While not undermining the importance of religious leaders in developing the democratic process by using their influence to spur civic responsibility, such interference should stop at the point of improving participation of citizens in politics.
Religious leaders should be asking their congregation to be fully involved in choosing political leaders and not telling them who to vote for. Anything more than this would serve as a recipe for more crisis in a nation already brought to its knees by violence mainly spurred by religious differences.
In Nigeria, the electoral process is not well served when voters are led by such primordial desire to be seen as “doing God’s will.” Encouraging such a situation would further increase the apathy that citizens exhibit in the governance of the country.
Mere going out to vote for the one that you have been told to vote for contributes little or nothing to an effective democracy. Citizens should analyse candidates, make rational choices, monitor to ensure their votes count and then hold the winners accountable from the first day they enter office.
It is, therefore, time that rational Nigerians demand that these religious leaders do the right thing and encourage free thinking as it concerns democracy. The very essence of democracy is the encouragement of freedom of thought and life. Every individual should be free to think the way he wants, provided he does not infringe on others’ way of thought. Religious leaders have no moral right to use their influence on their flock to promote or attack candidates or parties.
The authorities, on the other hand, need to move swiftly to stop this trend by arresting and prosecuting defaulters. In this instance, we have a clear case of religious leaders violating laid-down laws, the consequences must follow.
The alternative is not something we want to consider; it will make religion as an opium to the masses seem like the greatest understatement of all time.
It will be recalled that, President Jonathan was said to have held a meeting in Abuja with a number of Pentecostal pastors led by Bishop David Oyedepo of Winners Chapel, where he reportedly confessed that, “Osinbajo is my problem.”
Rev. Mbaka.
Section 95(3) of the Electoral Act 2010, makes it illegal to promote or attack any candidate or political party in a place of worship. In the past few weeks we have seen religious blatantly break this law; and worse, have the electorate feast on these unlawful and reckless actions by those who should ordinarily serve as a beacon to all.
An uproar erupted on Sunday following the news that Bishop David Oyedepo of The Living Faith Church had openly solicited support for President Goodluck Jonathan who is contesting election. The cleric used very strong words: “We will open the gate of hell on those who oppose you,” he told the president during his sermon.
Oyedepo’s gaffe is very similar to that by popular Catholic priest, Ejike Mbaka, a few weeks ago. During his traditional end-of-year mass at the Adoration Ground in Enugu, Mbaka reversed his earlier support for the president and blatantly asked his congregation not to vote for Jonathan; a development made the more absurd by the fact that he had famously recently declared First Lady Patience Jonathan as “the next first lady in 2015”.
These clerics, and others, have further damaged the respect that should ordinarily be accorded to religious leaders in a nation as religious as Nigeria. It is indeed the height of absurdity that religion is being used to sway a gullible electorate.
Religious leaders have abandoned the dignity of their calling and influence for the gutters of partisan politics. Pulpits all over the country have now been turned to podiums to market or de-market candidates; most times at a price.
While not undermining the importance of religious leaders in developing the democratic process by using their influence to spur civic responsibility, such interference should stop at the point of improving participation of citizens in politics.
Religious leaders should be asking their congregation to be fully involved in choosing political leaders and not telling them who to vote for. Anything more than this would serve as a recipe for more crisis in a nation already brought to its knees by violence mainly spurred by religious differences.
In Nigeria, the electoral process is not well served when voters are led by such primordial desire to be seen as “doing God’s will.” Encouraging such a situation would further increase the apathy that citizens exhibit in the governance of the country.
Mere going out to vote for the one that you have been told to vote for contributes little or nothing to an effective democracy. Citizens should analyse candidates, make rational choices, monitor to ensure their votes count and then hold the winners accountable from the first day they enter office.
It is, therefore, time that rational Nigerians demand that these religious leaders do the right thing and encourage free thinking as it concerns democracy. The very essence of democracy is the encouragement of freedom of thought and life. Every individual should be free to think the way he wants, provided he does not infringe on others’ way of thought. Religious leaders have no moral right to use their influence on their flock to promote or attack candidates or parties.
The authorities, on the other hand, need to move swiftly to stop this trend by arresting and prosecuting defaulters. In this instance, we have a clear case of religious leaders violating laid-down laws, the consequences must follow.
The alternative is not something we want to consider; it will make religion as an opium to the masses seem like the greatest understatement of all time.
It will be recalled that, President Jonathan was said to have held a meeting in Abuja with a number of Pentecostal pastors led by Bishop David Oyedepo of Winners Chapel, where he reportedly confessed that, “Osinbajo is my problem.”
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