Oyedepo just proved Chinua Achebe wrong

A few days ago, Bishop Oyedepo disproved Chinua Achebe’s thesis, not with biblical verses, but with his own logic. Bishop Oyedepo told us that the problem with Nigeria was not leadership, neither was it political. This was contrary to Chinua Achebe’s thesis that the problem with Nigeria was leadership. I do not know what will become of the numerous scholars who have been awarded Masters and PhDs based on their research on Achebe’s thesis – especially now that someone has proved him wrong.

Let me quote what the Vanguard Newspaper reported that the Bishop said, on the sidelines, at the just concluded Founder’s Day Celebration of his esteemed University, before we go on. Oyedepo said, “Our problem is a systematic problem not political or leadership problem and we must find solution to it. Nigeria will not go down the drain, we will proffer solution to it”.

The aim of this article is not to disparage the respected Bishop Oyedepo, but to plead with him to use his good office to speak truth to power. It seems to me that in that forum, where the Bishop made that statement, he was trying to be political correct and didn’t want to ruffle any feathers. Bishop Oyedepo is not like most of us. He has been blessed by God and doesn’t need government, as it were, to survive. So if people like us are afraid to speak truth to power, we don’t expect the Bishop to be afraid as well.

From the Bishop’s comments, I will not be wrong to assume he is not on the same page with some of his colleagues, such as, Pastor Sam Adeyemi. Pastor Adeyemi has been fixated on training the kind of leaders he believes would impact this country. Pastor Adeyemi believes leadership makes the difference – whether in the political space or in business. Luckily, Pastor Adeyemi has succeeded in breading a set of leaders who are making impact in the country and in their different communities.

I started with Pastor Adeyemi, and not with respected economists like Paul Collier and Jeffrey Sachs, because you could argue that these economists are not in the ‘Spirit’. Thus, they might have been wrong in the different research they have conducted on how leadership and politics have bedeviled Africa. The Bishop also proved them wrong. If you know Oby Ezekwesili, please tell her that someone just proved her mentor and teacher wrong. Jeffrey Sachs was Oby’s mentor and teacher.

If you know Olusegun Obasanjo, tell him not to attend the forthcoming, 5^th Tana High – Level Forum, which will hold in Ethiopia, because he has told us the points he intends to make in that conference. Obasanjo just told us that some of African leaders are responsible for the instability in the continent because they failed to manage diversity in their societies. Never mind that some people believe that our leaders have used religion and ethnicity to fractionalize our societies. From what we hear today, Obasanjo’s thesis is flawed.

The Bishop is right that our problem is systematic. He is also right that things are not working well. He advised the present government to be sensitive to the people’s plight. But, he also tried to be politically correct by saying we should not, at this point, point fingers at anyone, and that we should all put hands together to make things work. A part of me thinks he didn’t want to incur the wrath of the APC establishment. The APC had attacked him when he was allegedly accused of opening the gate of hell on the opponents of former President Jonathan. With this kind of relationship the Bishop has with the APC, any criticism from him might be misconstrued.

Having said that, I want to use this opportunity to advice the good Bishop not to be afraid to criticize the APC as the spirit leads him. Prophets of old were not afraid to take on the establishments in the Old Testaments. John the Baptist is a New Testament example. God has put the bishop in that position to be the voice of the voiceless. Trying to be politically correct when speaking to power gives me the impression that he is afraid of any subsequent onslaught by those in power. He shouldn’t be.

To be fair to the Bishop, maybe he is telling us that the problem with Nigeria is followership. After all, it is said that a people get the kind of leaders they deserve. But, that line of thinking was disproved by Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore.

Oyedepo has contributed immensely to the development of this country. Space will not let me begin to mention what he has done in and for Nigeria. His influence even goes beyond the shores of this country. I have argued, in many fora, that apart from Nigerian banks and Dangote, Nigerian elite pastors are the only people who have successfully created multinational establishments. They have churches all over the world. Since they earn dollars as well, I will like to ask them when they will start selling dollars to the CBN. Nigeria needs forex.

Let me use this opportunity to enjoin elite pastors to heed Professor Dora Akunyili’s advice. In the last national conference, Professor Akunyili reminded the elites that ‘’A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in’’. Our pastors might not be speaking for themselves when they speak truth to power, they might actually be speaking for the voiceless.

On a final note, for a man of God who has stood his ground with the UK, when his church had some issues with their government, I don’t see why he can’t look APC or Nigerian government in the eyes and say it as he feels. Let nobody tell me that wisdom demands you paint your words so that you don’t annoy anyone, especially when you feel strongly about an issue. This could be true for some of us, but not for a man of Bishop Oyedepo’s stature.

Dr Ebuka Nwankwo