By: Fr. Peter Obiekezie
I must admit that the aides of the Anambra State Governor are becoming too bold on Reverend Father Emmanuel Obimma (Ebube Muo Nso) of the Holy Ghost Adoration Ministry, Uke. It is worse when they attack him, using the name of a fake priest as the author of their defamatory pieces. But let me sound this as a warning that the effort at aggressing Fr. Ebube Muonso is coming to a point where it may be challenged.
I know as a Priest myself that Fr. Obimma has not done anything deserving of the attack he receives from the Governor’s aides. For those who may not know, the Catholic Social Teaching and Other Issues support getting involved in politics by way of keeping tabs on politicians in order to stave off possible derailment. The work of a Priest is therefore not only about homily and ecclesiasticism. It also involves maintaining balance in the polity and ensuring it bears the imprints of humanity.
The Church (Catholic) is not unmindful of its responsibilities to the society which might explain why Pope Francis once encouraged Christians to participate in politics and not to be indifferent to it. “We, Christians cannot ‘play Pilate’ and wash our hands…We must participate in politics because politics is one of the highest forms of charity because it seeks the common good. And Christian lay people must work in politics”. He went further to say that: “Politics is an essential means of building human community and institutions”. Pope Benedict XVI reechoing the role of the church in guarding the conscience of man said: “This is where Catholic social doctrine has its place…its aim is simply to help purify reason and contribute, here and now, to the acknowledgement and attainment of what is just”.
It is not common to see Priests who are completely apolitical – who are averse to political developments around them. The only difference between what Fr. Ebube Muonso does and what many of us are doing is in possessing the courage to speak out. But even when many of us are not expressing our opinions boldly, our reluctance to speak up should not be taken for acquiescence to the uncertain developments in the State. The pressure we face in the church and outside of it from the congregation because of the mounting insecurity in Anambra of today and molestation of the government’s army of extortionists is enough to compel a Priest to shed the cassock and get involved. It is almost getting to that point where many of us will join the fray if the attack continues unchecked. If Soludo’s government does not understand that the people are getting disenchanted, it may be forced to know that no sane person hunts rats while his house is on fire.
Priests bear a lot of burden on behalf of the State. They bridge gaps between people, especially the forlorn and the State. The burden is worse in big parishes and adoration centres where the Priests are confronted daily by large chunk of worshippers faced with the vicissitudes of life. It takes the grace of God for many of us Priests not to call the Governor out as often as possible.
Writing a slanderous piece against Fr. Ebube, using name of a fake priest is not a good way to reward good effort. Has Father Ebube Muonso not contributed enough through education and empowerment to the development of Anambra State? What is the idea behind using a fake priest name to malign Fr. Ebube Muonso? Who is Fr. Theo Njoku? Where does he come from? Where is his parish? Who are his mates in the seminary? To unearth the vicious contrivance, the language employed in the piece (which reeks of slurs) is alien to any Priests trained in the traditions of the Catholic Church. What the pretender who falsely assumed a Priest, just to confer believability on the article, does not know is that no matter how angry or compromised a Priest of the Roman Catholic Church, he will never resort to the type of gutter language used by the fake writer. Calling Fr. Ebube Muonso names like “Ebube Muo Ojoo, loud-mouthed…” etc. is a sign of frustration. It looks like the Governor’s aides have direct order to attack and overwhelm Ebube Muonso or lose their jobs. This is because the frequency of attack keeps increasing by the day.
I know it will amount to dignifying the thrash from the pretender and those who sent him by addressing some of the allegations he made. However, for the records it is necessary to state here that Kabaka was very brilliant as a student. Being contemporaries in the seminary I can claim knowledge of his overall performance. He was top-notch and was found worthy in learning and character. He was properly formed unlike some of those who earned their degrees without character. His apostolate still stands out and it was not for nothing that he was appointed as teacher-prefect at All Hallow’s Seminary, Onitsha, very early in his formative period as a Priest. It is manifestly clear from the trash written by the fake Priest that the government can go to any length to fight an imaginary battle.
This indicative that the Soludo government has no respect for anybody and it does not pretend about it. Many of us Priests have tried to engage it through prayers to see whether it will step up its game and fight insecurity and other troubling issues in the State. We have also tried to get the Governor himself to bring civility to bear in his government because as it is stands today the State is operated by kakistocrats The unwieldy number of violent extortionists in uniform duly sponsored by the State makes the streets of Anambra one of the most precarious, east of the Niger.
The way the Soludo government is going I fear that another Emperor Henry IV may have arisen against the Church. The way he sends his aides to insult Priests of God is not very different from the way King Henry IV sent one of his aides to call Pope Gregory VII (Hildebrand) “false monk” which precipitated the conflict of 1076 between the Church and the State. Soludo should call his aides to order before he disrupts the peace in the State.
Rev. Fr. Peter Obiekezie
