The messenger and the message

Come on, they said, ‘let us concoct a plot against Jeremiah, for the Law will not perish for lack of priests, nor advice for lack of wise men, nor the word for lack of prophets. Come on, let us slander him and pay no attention to anything he says. (Jeremiah 18:18). Jeremiah was born in […]

Come on, they said, ‘let us concoct a plot against Jeremiah, for the Law will not perish for lack of priests, nor advice for lack of wise men, nor the word for lack of prophets. Come on, let us slander him and pay no attention to anything he says. (Jeremiah 18:18). Jeremiah was born in about 640 BC, a century after Isaiah, in the little town of Anathoth, a few kilometers north of Jerusalem. It was a disastrous time for Judah. During the time of Isaiah, under King Ahaz, things were pretty bad. Then in 687, Manasseh became king and things went from bad to worse for he supported idolatrous worship and persecuted the just ones (2 Kings 21:1-18). But in 640 came King Josiah, during whose reign the Book of the Law was found in the Temple (622 BC) which became the basis for Josiah’s reform of Yahwistic religion (2 Kings 22: 1-23:37). But the reform was superficial and short-lived. The kings who followed Josiah were weak or like Jehoiakim downright roguish.

In 626 BC, during the reign of Josiah, Jeremiah received his call to be God’s Prophet. He was about the same age as the king. During this time, the political balance of power in the region was changing. Assyrian power was on the decline, and a new power was rising on the horizon in Babylon. Egypt saw this as an opportunity to reassert herself; and the kings of Judah, caught in this tug-of-war, made attempts to achieve independence from foreign control. This policy of Independence at any cost was to prove fatal for Judah. Jeremiah saw this as a real possibility and preached against it.

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Jeremiah was given an unbelievable mission by God (Jeremiah 1:9-10). He soon realized that his preaching was falling on deaf ears. His message was filled with lamentations and condemnations. He was, indeed, a prophet of doom. Nevertheless, Jeremiah loved his people and it pained him to deliver such messages, but God’s word burned like fire in him. He was ridiculed, imprisoned and abducted. He even felt cheated by God. But his predictions of doom came true in due time. In 598 BC, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, attacked Jerusalem and took King Jehoiachin into captivity. In 587 BC, the Babylonians attacked Jerusalem a second time. The city and the temple were razed to the ground, and another group of people from Judah was taken into captivity.

The life experiences of Jeremiah is very common with all the documented prophets in the scriptures, like: Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Amos. These prophets were consistently harassed and victimized as a result of the truth their messages carried. In the New Testament: there is an interesting account of John the Baptist, Herod and Herodias (Mathew 14: 1-12). Herod had in fact, ordered that John be arrested, bound in chains and put in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. For John had said to him, it is not right for you to have her as wife (Mathew 14: 3). Herodias of course was not pleased and she instigated the king to kill John.

There is always a big battle sometimes in separating Messages, from the Messengers. Messengers are carriers of Messages that are sometimes sacred and heavy with bitter reality. Very often we are quick to attack the messenger and living out the message. For the past three weeks now, Nigeria has been battling between the Christmas Message of Bishop and the person of Bishop Kukah. And like the classical case of attacking the messenger and living the message. Some quarters have completely ignored the message. And are struggling hard to smear the messenger. I have read over and over again, the Christmas Message of Bishop Kukah and tried to understand the degree of attack on the messenger. I have honestly failed to understanding why. No doubt, his words were tough, ‘uncharitable’ and ‘unfriendly’. We just need to be very objective in other to appreciate the message of the Bishop.

In 2014, before the general elections, Fr Ejike Mbaka a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Enugu, in his New Year Message spoke very harshly against the government of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. His message was widely received by Muslims as coming from God and he was speaking truth to power. In some mosques, his messages were played live for all worshippers to hear. Many Christians felt betrayed because of his attack on a Christian President. And what were the issues Mbaka raised against Jonathan: insecurity, poverty, rise in exchange rate of Naira to the Dollar, inflation, bad roads. Etc. Hence Mbaka encouraged all his admirers to go beyond religion and ethnicity and vote out Jonathan.

As a result of the Christmas Message of Bishop Kukah, we are gradually witnessing a deliberate distortion of his message into an attack on Islam and Muslims. This is unfortunate and regrettable. Professor Isa Maishanu who signed the press statement of 12th January 2021 about Bishop Kukah to apologize or leave Sokoto should take a hard look at such a statement again. No one is gaining from the current happenings in Nigeria especially in the North. It is only hypocrites and sycophants that would turn a blind eye on the current state of killings and bloodletting in the country. There is a viral video that is going around recorded in 2014, in one of the campaigns. Where some governors where presented as embodiment of integrity, hard work, stability, and progress. The governor who was speaking accused the government of Jonathan of rise in the exchange rate of the Naira from N160 to N220 to a dollar, he accused the government of displacing 1 million Nigerians as a result of insecurity, and a host of many other issues.

Six years down the line, nemesis speaks for all to see. Today the exchange rate of a naira to dollar is N420 some very corrupt officials get very low. The official records of Nigerians that are internally displayed now is over 2.5 million. Bandits have moved from Kaduna, Zamfara, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and now Niger State. Boko Haram has gained more momentum in every respect. Our once revered north has become a huge land of despair and fear. On the 8th of January 2021, we went to Kankara for a wedding ceremony. The same Kankara that witnessed the Abduction of over 300 children last year. The wedding was carried out amidst fear and constant sound of gunshots to scare kidnappers and bandits away. The Christian wedding ceremony lasted for 27 minutes. From 10am to 10:27am and all guests hurriedly disperse as a result of the fear of kidnappers. By 11:50am kidnappers visited Kankara and killed two persons and abducted 1.  These and many issues form part of the Christmas Message of Bishop Kukah. We as a nation must be sincere to ourselves, and make Nigeria work again. No section of the country is more Nigerian than the other. In the wake of the call by the Muslim Solidarity Forum in Sokoto; demanding apology from Kukah or leave Sokoto. I would like to appreciate the federal government for acting promptly by releasing a statement. Reminding all Nigerians to leave where they feel comfortable so long as they are engaged in legitimate activities.  Preaching truth to power I feel is a very legitimate activity.

Fr Stephen Ojapah is a priest of the Missionary Society of St Paul. He is equally the director for Interreligious Dialogue and Ecumenism for the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, a member of IDFP. He is also a KAICIID Fellow. ([email protected])