His real name is not King. But his lifestyle
was.
He snagged the name to match the
majesty of his position. His real name is Chukwuemeka Ezeugo. He had a regal
life until he thought everything he did was legal.
Silence had drowned his drama of
about a decade ago until the Supreme Court’s gavel fell. Death by hanging to
the king. Some are rejoicing. Others are mourning. But most of these emotions
are alive for the wrong reasons.
Those who are rejoicing are thinking
revenge, or revenge as justice. Those who are mourning are his followers,
although some of them think that he will never die. Did Jesus not say, “some of
you will never taste of death?”
Those who are thinking revenge as
justice miss the point. The man deserves to be punished, but it has nothing to
do with the future. A hanged king will not wipe out the sort of followers of
the Christian Praying Assembly. He will die, but the gullible will crave for
and believe in the coming of another king. In fact, the dying of a king will
only pave the way for another.
It is like the endless yearning for
a hero. We seek them. They materialise and answer our material needs. It does
not matter that their lifestyles and preaching contradict each other. They are
human when they sin, but they are divine when they preach. For their followers,
the dichotomy is easy. They put the men of God in context and they are at peace
with God.
Reverend King was one of such lucky
fellows. Until last week, that is. He was like the rich man in the story of
Lazarus. He was on the table that flourished with the opulent cuisine, and
wine, and fruits. Lazarus is not angry. He is grateful for a place on the
floor. In his benevolent plenty, the rich man tolerates him in spite of his
ruffian’s appearance and ulcerous sores. Crumbs drop from the rich man’s table
and sustain the humble mendicant.
Reverend King was not only a
preacher of the word. He was a lecher of the world. He combined the flesh and
spirit to win over the people for God. For those who say he was a lecher and a
fake, his followers will point to examples of miracles, of their changed lives,
of his spiritual gifts.
Some will say he healed them of
cancer. He made them rich. They found love, they found family. They found joy.
So, argue with them, and you fail against the evidence of their eyes.
Men like King combine what
Dostoyevsky, in his Brothers Karamazov, sees as the trifecta of control:
authority, mystery and miracle. Hence the Russian novelist writes, “anyone who
can appease a man’s conscience can take his freedom.”
Such anecdotes lift the man on the
throne. Everything he says becomes everything God says. Mysticism overthrows
materiality. He lived the glamour life. Mansion. Food. Limousines.
Women. Wine. The blessing of the
Lord maketh rich. Who can argue with that? If you tell the adherents that God
that made you rich does not condone a pastor that makes you a fool. They will
say they are no fools. They believe in God and his prophet, so their lives are
established.
And, a God that says thou shall not
kill would not condone a servant who burns a person alive, pouring petrol on
the flesh and his eyes still light up with righteous indignation. They will say
the Lord works in a mysterious way. It is wrong to question the servant of God.
Then you quote Prophet Jeremiah: “A
wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land. The prophets prophesy
falsely and the priests bear rule by their means, and my people love to have it
so.” Or you quote Jesus: “They be blind leaders of the blind. If the blind lead
the blind, both shall fall into the dish.” Or Isaiah: “The leaders of these
people cause them to err, and they that are led of them are destroyed.”
They will merely respond that you
quote the Bible upside down. So the solution is not in hanging the leaders like
King and others who mislead.
Around the world we have such
groups, and they have not stopped erupting. We had Jim Jones and we have many
around. A few years ago, some students in Obafemi Awolowo University waxed into
a suicidal group. In Colorado, a cult leader, Warren Jeff, led his cult from
prison. The evisceration of one group does not destroy its rebirth.
Such leaders have special gifts,
which for lack of a better word, we call charisma. They have, what the Bible
calls appearance of holiness. They have smooth tongue, vast knowledge pool,
suave manners, intuition, street wisdom, and they are clever risk takers. Those
who are not suave have the façade of noble rascals, strong, aggressive but
strategically kind.
Such pastors are still around, and
it only takes the wise to discern the word from the sword of rascals. It is
about religion, but it is not about religion alone. It is the people’s search
for identity, for a place on earth. Once they meet that leader who can flatter
their secret hopes, they yield.
Like a smart Alec as suitor. The
fair lady falls.
Did we not see men of God ape
Jonathan and even campaign for him? If they had vision, why did they not warn
us about the filth in Jonathan’s cupboards, the billions stolen, the reckless
fascination with filthy lucre? Were they asking us to vote in another season of
kleptomania?
Since the flood of revelations, none
of the clerics has explained to their adherents how they led them to vote for
thieves when the good books says, thou shall not steal. In spite of how bad
things are, imagine if we would have Nigeria today if Jonathan got re-elected?
I believe all the clerics who roared gospels
to support Jonathan’s re-election owe everyone an explanation, or an apology!
They have misquoted Romans Chapter 13 and distorted the term higher powers to
mean all adherents should be subject to the government of the day when it means
the church authority that does right.
Many died. Families fell out of
joint because of Jonathan-era thieving. Many followed apishly. They are not
different from all the King’s brethren.
And the solution is education? Not
necessarily book education. I swear that Reverend King had well-read people as
followers. Just like Jesus of Oyingbo who married mothers and daughters and
their daughters of his own flesh. His incestuous holiness!
The Islamic world has the same
hobgoblin. An expert said some Western girls flocking to ISIS are merely
sex-starved, seeking a romp with the “spirit.” King is no better than Yusuf who
birthed Boko Haram.
We need emotional education,
psychological education. Jack was sent to school to learn to be a fool. Book
education is not adequate. And it is not about religion alone. Our politics is
full of it. People rally behind men who appeal to tribe and faith.
We sometimes kid ourselves that
because we are in a democratic era, men like King cannot con us. History tells
us that moments of democratic impulse yield to the eruption of monarchs. In his
great study, Michael Scott captured this in his book, From Democrats to Kings,
where he tracks the downfall of Athens to the “epic rise of Alexander the
Great.” Napoleon also prospered on mass movement.
Whether King dies or lives, the king
reigneth in the eyes of his followers.
In Touch, The
Nation newspaper, 29/02/2016
