ATTACKS ON CBCN (JOHN ONAIYEKAN & HASSAN KUKAH)

For some weeks now, statements have been spreading virally on the internet in reaction to the perceived activities or comments of Hassan Kukah and John Onaiyekan, not really because comments made about them may be true in themselves, but because the internet is a place where even the whistling of a bird is acceptable. As an individual one may have his/her reservations against these two prominent figures, but we must try to approach issues with some reasonable sense of objectivity. If every article or comment made on the internet is publishable, then many Nigerians do not need much to become professors. These reactions are not unconnected with the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and their points of departure on issues of national importance. As a result, Christians of different denomination/factions and people of different faith perceive their opinion not to be in consonance with CAN and in defense of Ayo Oritsejafor, Nigerians make unwarranted comparisons among this trio. It is in reaction to the comparison made by some incoherent minds that I summarily make certain observations.

Ayo Oritsejafor is certainly the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria and we give him credit for that. However, on issues of national importance, we should not be beclouded by the office of the CAN president at the expense of one’s suitability for particular situations. John Onaiyekan and Hassan Kukah are first of all human beings, Nigerians and then clergy. However, because of our conscious amnesia, we throw to the waste bin that which qualifies them not as bishops, but as scholars and by extension resource fellows. All we need to do is to strive to sieve the ideas of these figures within scholarly and ecclesiastical lines and know when they speak as clergy and when they render their views as scholars. When I listen to some Nigerians make careless statements on internet such as; “Kukah or Onaiyekan is a politician”, “their view does not represent the mind of CAN”, the question is; should Drs. Onaiyekan and Kukah be taken for granted simply because they are bishops Onaiyekan and Kukah respectively?  Oritsejafor on one hand attended the New Covenant Bible Institute Benin City, Nigerian Baptist Seminary Ogbomosho, Oyo state and Morris Cerrulo’s School of Ministry, San Diego. All these certainly qualifies him as a pastor that he is, but absolutely not as a scholar and by extension not a resource fellow on issues of national importance.

Known across various continents for their contributions to scholarship, Christian unity and peace, Onaiyekan, who was nominated to be a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize alongside Barack Obama and Kukah, a Harvard alumnus whose intellectual prowess is unequalled among his critics (both of whom had a stint on international diplomacy at various intervals) do not stand out as clergy alone but people of outstanding intellectual reputation. People should be discouraged, if not tired, of talking when those whose attention they want to attract, are very busy making meaningful impact in our world, therefore having no time in their schedule have to respond to mediocre. My advice to ‘you’ who seeks relevance is to have a touch of what they have acquired so that your voice like theirs, will become relevant.