FEATURE ARTICLE


Akeem SoboyedeSunday, July 18, 2004
advertisement
[email protected]
USA

ANNOUNCE THIS ARTICLE TO YOUR FRIENDS


THE RUMOUR IN MIRACLES


very journalist likes to believe there is no issue beyond the range of his or her pen. As self-appointed guardians of society's conscience, we usually proceed from the idea, right out of journalism school, that all facets of endeavour in our society are fair game for our pens. We want to report the news on any issue, write commentaries, editorials and even postscripts. It is always our wish to examine every angle, analyze every point and dissect every element. Yes, we may often come across to our readers as all-knowing, opinionated and even downright annoying. But then, we want to inform and save the world, and such unflattering views can wait. And wait�

For this particular journalist there has been one exception to this rule. Until now. Sometime in 1990, while I worked at the PUNCH newspapers, I boarded a molue bus from Oshodi in Lagos, headed to somewhere on the Island. The ride was uneventful, until some fellow stood up and started to preach. I did not pay any attention initially, just as many other people in the bus. But it did not take very long for all to realize that this particular "preacher" came from a different mould. No recognized names of the prophets of God, either from the Koran or Bible, came forth from his mouth. He only spoke about people being good and honest with themselves, the importance of avoiding rumours and back-biting and making the world a better place for one another. He neither threatened hell nor eternal damnation, nor did he make any prescriptions regarding how to attain the unimaginable comforts of an afterlife. But he soon got people's attention when he mentioned "The Perfect Living Master." This person, he said, could ensure their salvation. And they should come to him because he was right there among them, in Nigeria.

When the fellow proceeded to mention the name "Sat Guru Maharaji", you could cut the tension in the bus with a knife. But he kept on talking. Soon one person had had enough. "Shut up there", came a gruff voice from the back of the bus, behind me. "I say shut up". Within seconds, one burly male passenger had positioned himself next to the "preacher". One or two others joined him. The molue was in motion, now on its way to Jibowu bus stop. But that did not prevent what happened next. One moment, the "preacher" was in the bus; the next moment, he had disappeared, the bus' gaping front door a testament to his unplanned departure. I did not dare to look back to see what had happened to the fellow. Although I was and still am a Muslim, I never forget my Bible lessons, including the story of Lot's wife. And I can say, without any fear of contradiction, that I know more about the Bible and indeed the Christian religion than many professed Christians.

advertisement
Then the celebration in the bus started. This time, a "real" preacher stood up among the remaining passengers, invoking the name of Jesus and the eternal hell and damnation that awaited all "unbelievers". An overwhelming chorus in the bus urged him on until we got to my destination. I minded my business while the "revival" lasted, but my mind was in turmoil. Dutifully, and as a good journalist, I wrote about this experience when I got back to the PUNCH, and it was published some days later. As I remember it, the concluding paragraph of that article ended with this line: "If religion does not destroy this country, nothing else will."

Before and since that time, a succession of military and civilian dictators have assailed our lives as Nigerians. But, despite these and other pestilents, I still stand by the assertion I made close to fourteen years ago in that article. There was one more effect that experience had on me. Back in that bus, I saw how potent, powerful and destructive religious passions could be, especially when channeled as anger. I never forget that the burly fellow who first accosted the Sat Guru Maharaji guy and later assisted in kicking him off the bus was dressed in a suit and tie. I don't know what the norm is now, but when you leave your house dressed like that in Nigeria, people expect a much higher standard of behaviour from you. They expect you to be educated, indeed, well educated, and good mannered. He probably was, until he heard the name of Sat Guru Maharaji being praised instead of Jesus'. The sheer intolerance this person displayed was astounding, even potentially murderous.

After that experience, the idea started forming in my mind that much as I did not expect any issue to be out of bounds for my pen, I would do well to steer clear of religion. It was simply too emotive, too rigid to be open to any clear rationalization. People's positions were pretty fixed, and one would only stir the hornets' nest unnecessarily by taking a position or the other. Even a position of equivocation or "balance" would be quickly interpreted as bias.

I was soon proved right. After the publication of the article I referred to above, two of my good friends who should have known better told me that I appeared sympathetic to the Sat Guru Maharaji guy in the piece, and that they did not realize I was a "secret cult" member. I told them, with all the patience I could muster at the time, that I was not only a Muslim, I was and am a good muslim who observes all the tenets of his religion. But I was, and am, also tolerant of other religions and faiths. Moreover, I believe fervently in the freedom of speech, religion and due process, and could not imagine denying other people these rights simply because they did not profess the same faith as I did. As I pointed out to them, they were Christians; yet we were, and still are, very good friends. I did not believe that commitment to my faith meant running down others'.

About a year later, I also had cause to comment on the sad and tragic escapade of a pastor who deliberately sneaked into the lion's den at the University of Ibadan zoo and was mauled to death by a lion. Despite my growing reservation then regarding issues of religion, my interest in writing an article on that issue came primarily from the fact that I am a proud alumnus of the university and paid many visits to that zoo while I was a student there. Immediately after the tragic event, many suggested that the lion be put to death. I argued in my article, also published in the PUNCH, that the lion was a beast, not a rational being as one would expect its victim to be. That was the way nature programmed it to react to such an event, and the unthinking "Daniel" should have known better. I don't recall if the lion was eventually destroyed, but I do remember that after the article was published, one of my Christian friends made a comment along these lines: "Akeem, don't you know the lion must have been possessed to have killed the pastor? Why should it deserve to live?"

For me, that did it. Since 1991 or thereabouts, I have studiously ignored writing a commentary on any religious event or crisis in Nigeria. Also, since that time, scores of those have erupted in Nigeria, many times resulting in the deaths of hundreds and thousands of people. My silence was agonizing on a personal and professional level, but I chose to keep my peace and keep my thoughts to myself. I came very, very close to breaking this vow a few years ago, when an article published in a newspaper I used to work for in Nigeria sparked a bloody, senseless and devilish orgy of violence in the predominantly-muslim northern part of the country. But I reasoned that whatever position I took, which was clearly predictable in such a situation, it would simply be dismissed as an empty show of solidarity with my mostly Christian colleagues, and an opportunistic effort at "showing the flag".

But I can keep quiet no longer. Sometime early this year, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) in Nigeria issued a directive banning "miracle broadcasts" on the airwaves, especially on television. No, the NBC was not outraged that each one-hour spot for such miracle broadcasts cost about ten thousand US dollars, in a land where an overwhelming majority of the population earn less than that amount in a year; and some religious organizations are known to run at least three of such spots in a week. What riled the NBC was that many of the claims made on those broadcasts were fake, spurious and phony. In other words, the claimed "miracles" were mere visual and audile rumours made to lure unwitting members of the public into the congregations of the fake claim-makers. Obviously, they succeeded as the contributions the new members brought in were used to pay for more of such broadcasts. But, according to the NBC, what we had witnessed for years on our screens were mere theatrical productions conjured by those who have more faith in deception and filthy lucre than the Big Three of the Holy Trinity. That, in other words, the Big Lie truly has Nigerian blood in its veins.

Predictably, those affected by the NBC order, especially the Christian religious organizations that run the bulk of such broadcasts, have not taken kindly to the "419" mantle the NBC has indirectly bestowed on them. What I find particularly interesting in this whole episode is that the President of Nigeria is a Christian who does not miss an opportunity to remind people he is also a "born-again, committed" Christian. Sure, Obasanjo will earn points in some quarters for the NBC's action, which certainly must have had his nod. Many will say it is a refection of the man's tolerance and bravery that he can take on the charlatans within his faith and damn the consequences, just as Jesus Christ did when he ejected the miscreants whose activities polluted a house of worship. But Obasanjo's acquiescence, to this writer, is simply an acknowledgement of a widespread and underlying malaise that afflicts the Christian faith in Nigeria, and the way it is practiced by many of its adherents both within and outside the country.

Don't get me wrong. The Muslim faith in Nigeria has its own variation of a malaise. Before now, intolerance of other faiths and opinions, especially in the Northern part of the country, was thought to be exclusive to it. The dreadful and unjustified slaughter of Christians and peoples of other faiths on the flimsiest of pretexts, in Bulumkutu, Kafanchan, Kano, Zangon-Kataf, Katsina, Yola, Kaduna and other places, to name just a few, are adequate testaments to that assertion. As everyone knows, the situation was and remains much better in the Southern part of the country, which has been a model for religious tolerance. I often joke that were I ever to be provoked on a rampage based on religious passions, I would have to start with members of my mother's family, 90 per cent of whom are practicing Christians, and all of whom I love so very much! And it has been that way for decades. I also believe that is the reality with most families in the Southern part of Nigeria, which in my opinion has accounted for the welcome dearth of religious crises in that part of the country, despite the provocations that are regularly witnessed in the North.

Sadly, however, the ground seems to be shifting in the wrong direction in the South. I and many other non-Christians in the South, especially Muslims, have noticed a disturbing trend of intolerance and an outright, visible contempt for other religions and faiths among adherents of the Christian faith. Sometimes, it is even inter-Christian: recall the cold war between the so-called Charismatics and orthodox adherents that raged for a time some years ago within the Catholic Church in Nigeria. But the emerging friction is mainly between those I choose to describe as the New Christians (in America, I believe they are described as the "evangelicals", although I stand to be corrected) and people of other faiths, especially Muslims. Friends who are muslims have regaled me with stories about Christian friends who have been their friend for years, but who now shun them because they have not only remained muslims, they are also not "born-again". These Christian friends, they say, advise them to convert and "receive miracles" in their lives. They also advise them that if the problem was the issue of identity, they could still eat their cakes and have it by keeping their Muslim names even after they had converted.

Not heeding these constant advice and admonitions leads to even more hostility on the part of the Christians, I am told. Of course, my own personal experiences bear out some of these assertions. And I am as close to a "non-Christian Christian" as anyone can get: I like to believe that my knowledge of the Christian religion, its history and its practice, ancient and contemporary, is deep and diverse. I also often take some pride (however dubious that might be) in the fact that I have attended more ceremonies in Churches involving friends and relatives than I have in mosques. Still, I cannot recall any occasion when a Christian friend accompanied me to a ceremony that took place exclusively in a mosque.

What role have many of these "miracle-touting" churches and organizations affected by the NBC order played in these developments over the years? A lot. As is the case with many things Nigerian, miracles transmitted into your living rooms via the instruments of the mass media are a distinctly American import. Fast-thinking but dubious Nigerians who saw the spectacle first unfold on American airwaves, and witnessed how the pioneers made millions in untaxed dollars, brought the idea to the television and radio sets of their countrymen. Obviously, they too have also been making their millions by broadcasting the false, 419-ish miracles. Like the Jim and Tammy Faye Bakkers, the Morris Cerrullos and the Jimmy Swaggarts in America, the televangelists in Nigeria have left many victims in their wake. But, unlike in America, the damage does not merely lie in the fact that many who cannot even afford to feed themselves have had their pockets picked based on the promise of phantom "miracles".

How many homes of ordinary God-fearing Nigerians have been destroyed because a wife, taken in by the promise of false miracles, abandoned her husband due to one problem or the other and went to a pastor or alfa she saw on television, believing the fake man-of-God was the solution to her problems. In most cases, these are often the source and escalation of such problems. Or, how many Muslim/Christian friendships have been needlessly destroyed because, based on the false rantings of a "miracle" pastor, one friend disavowed the friendship because the "other" was not "saved"? Or, that some pastor had "seen" that one's friend's miracles were being "blocked" because he or she was friends with an "unsaved" friend? Now that most of those "miracles" are being denounced as false, what will happen to those friendships and relationships? Will they remain asunder? Most probably.

Just the other week, Nigerian newspapers reported a fracas at the Federal High Court in Lagos, where one Justice Olomojobi was supposed to hear a matter brought by some Christian religious organizations, appealing the NBC order on religious broadcasts. The PUNCH edition of Friday, July 16 reported that some individuals sympathetic to those organizations demonstrated on the court premises and, in fact, blocked the entry of the judge into the court. The judge was so incensed that she made the following comments: " I have never experienced anything like this in my entire career as a judge that a horde of youths under the guise of religion would attempt to prevent a Federal High Court judge from entering her own court. Not even in celebrated political cases did I ever witness such irresponsible effrontery�"

One can only hope, for the sake of those who force the false pills of miracles down our throats, that the above report is only a rumour. But something tells me that given the creeping culture of intolerance that these same folks have wrought, both within and outside Nigeria, that would be a miracle!

May the good God save us from our saviours.