Let's Talk (May 8, 2015): What Xenophobia In South Africa Means For The ...

South Africa's Sickening And Saddening Descent Into Mob Rule - By Paul Inyang

In what seems like a few years ago Africans everywhere and most of the world were in an uproar over the treatment of black Africans by the white minority in South Africa. There were marches everywhere in the world and this writer participated in the march here in the United States—encouraged by a friend from South Africa who had relocated to the United States for safety and in part because he had family that were wealthy enough to send him out of harm’s way. We would have discussions about the plight of the black man and the black experience over the world. I was also quite aware of the issues at the time. In part also due to the fact that in Nsukka where I grew up, there were children in the University community who were from South Africa. Their parents were staff members of the university and some livd with host families within the campus. They were fully assimilated into the community and if they did not tell who and where they were from, no one would know. This was not limited to South Africans but you name the country and they were represented in that community—some are still resident in Nigeria till today. I fondly remember my friend Joe, from the then Togo, who was one of the best athletes I ever knew, who was like a son to my parents. I share this story to give some perspective and understanding of how Africans have always collectively felt responsible for one another through the ages—because of a shared destiny. It was not uncommon for us to look out for one another and in many ways the continent was considered a resource for anyone who chose to make any place their home. What was needed, was an open mind and a willingness to work and sacrifice. We all saw each other as brothers—at least that was my experience growing up and living in and out of the continent.

There are explanations for what is happening in South Africa but it would be an academic exercise to dwell on it. The economy is bad; South Africa has an unemployment rate of 25%, extreme poverty, lack of education, ignorance, misguided traditional institutions, etc. This could be said about almost all African countries. Nothing justifies what is happening. Xenophobia is a common phenomenon and is not unique to South Africa but I have never seen it express itself in such a barbaric manner. And to think, that this round was set off by a traditional Zulu chief who refuses to apologize or call his people to order. These from the same tribe which until Nelson Mandela confronted them, saw nothing wrong with apartheid. I remember very clearly Nelson Mandela’s interview on night-line on his visit to the USA after his release. He exchanged terse words with the then Zulu chief who not so secretly was in support of white rule. I remember Mandela telling him that he was not going to be drawn into a conversation about the issue in public—“we will not wash our dirty laundry in public and on foreign soil”—he said. Mr. Mandela was acutely aware of the ramification of words I believe and its impact on a people. That is what we are now dealing with as we all see Xenophobia in action.

I have never been so sickened or saddened by watching videos and photographs of so many incidents. It is what I call Africans being Africans—playing into stereotypical notions of Africans that goes as far back as 200 years ago. When a mob of people are so aroused that they create mayhem and kill others in the name of hating foreigners, who are there to do nothing but trying to make a living and sustain their families. Though this notion is not cognitively farfetched while real but I still simply cannot wrap my head around it.

Nigeria has been a place of solace and provided sustenance to ALL Africans and not only our own neighbors—especially South Africa. For those who do not know—Nigeria was at the forefront of the war against apartheid morally, politically and financially. So why are we and other Africans being persecuted? The problems of African countries are not unique to South Africa—so why transfer the pain and suffering to others. This must stop immediately. What one person can do, the other can do better. Please stop this madness…please do! God help us all.

Paul Inyang 4/17/2015

Dear Evangelical (Pentecostal) Pastor, You Are Not God - Part 2

The just concluded Nigerian presidential election should serve as another reminder to Christians that God's ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts our thoughts.  President Jonathan was not the only loser in that election; many Nigerian evangelical (Pentecostal) pastors were big losers as well.  On their way to losing, they tried to drag God's name down to the gutter but God is not a doll to be pushed around by mere mortals.

Every four years in the United States, we go through a presidential election period when evangelical (also known as Pentecostal) pastors prostitute themselves and their congregations to the Republican Party and tell tales that they claim are messages that God gave them about who our nation's next President should be.  It is curious that their God always tells them that his choice for every election, even at the lowliest local election, is a Republican - regardless of the individual's character.  While they are delivering those "messages", traditional church attendees are studying the candidates' positions on issues and praying that God would do His will.  Then they vote in whatever way they feel convinced.

During the campaigns for the Nigerian presidential elections, there was no paucity of "prophesies" by evangelical pastors.  Taking sides with either presidential candidate, many prophesied doom and gloom as they warned against electing a Moslem.  They also prophesied that President Goodluck Jonathan would win because God said so.  In the process, they used Nigerian electronic and print media shamelessly and used social media as a platform to spew their hatred and spread their lies. 

Here are some questions for those evangelical pastors: If God truly told them what they claim He told them, why did President Jonathan lose - and badly so?  Do these pastors now think that God changed His mind?  Do they believe that God made a mistake in choosing Retired General Buhari to lead Nigeria at this time or are they of the opinion that he wasn't chosen by God?  Are these pastors still sure that the messages that they reportedly received actually came from God or would they acknowledge that the so-called messages never came from God but were hatched in their own hearts?

One of the problems with so-called prophetic claims is that it is hard for anyone to verify the credibility of the claims.  The only way to know is to wait for the outcome of the so-called prophesies.  In the Bible, prophesies by genuine prophets always came to pass.  We know that the word of God is as true today as it was centuries ago.  Since that is the case, then perhaps we should be able to say the following: First, that those pastors whose so-called prophesies have failed may not have heard from God and either falsified their claims, were delusional, plainly lied or gambled with God's name.  Second, that if you are a member of a congregation or worship under a pastor who used God's name so recklessly to make himself/herself relevant in the political process, chances are that your pastor is lying to you about everything else.  You should consider finding another church where you can worship God in truth.  Third, to regain credibility (to the extent that they did have any), the pastors in question should first apologize to God, then to their congregations and the nation instead of trying now to spin what they did in a different direction so that they may continue to maintain relevance as clergy.  There was a time when it was respectable to be a member of the clergy.  That was a time when even pastors feared God and took their responsibilities to society seriously.  We should all long for that time to come again.




 

Thanks to Nigeria, The Die Is Cast

President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria lost his re-election bid in an election that has been rightly described as historic on an African continent where incumbent Presidents do not cede office even when they lose at the ballot box. 

For the past 6 years, Goodluck Jonathan proved himself to be a surprisingly incompetent President presiding over a nightmarish administration that ensured that his legacy would be one of pervasive corruption, ineptitude and wrecklessness.  He squandered the goodwill of Nigerians and the international community who wished him well and hoped very much that he would succeed as president. He and his party betrayed the trust of Nigerians and on March 28, 2015, the Nigerian electorate withdrew their trust and sent President Jonathan and his party packing. 

Without a doubt, President Jonathan's loss was a victory for Nigerians and the country's democracy. However, it wasn't the president's loss alone.  Bad African leaders also lost. Now, Nigerians have shown other Africans what is possible when determined people of goodwill rise up and embrace a vision to take their country back from lazy, uncaring, unpatriotic thieves.  Africans from Yaounde to Lome to Harare and beyond who are living under the tyrannical rule of corrupt leaders need to take a leaf from Nigerians and understand that power will not be given to them voluntarily by their oppressors; they must grab the power and by so doing take their destiny and the fate of their countries into their hands. 

With presidential elections coming up soon in Togo, the Togolese must understand that they cannot continue to complain if they once again accept what they are told is the result of an election rigged massively to keep in power the same family that has plundered the nation since 1967.  They must demand an open, free and fair election. 

Incompetent and corrupt African leaders should no longer be allowed any comfort. They should go to bed every night afraid that masses of regular citizens will come  after them if they close their eyes to sleep.  They should feel that they are being pursued by the ghosts of people who died as a result of the havoc of their presidencies.  They should hear the footsteps and voices of the dead and the kidnapped propelling the living and the conscientious in a loud march toward sincere change. 

Nigerians have done the right thing by getting rid of a very bad President who never really seemed to understand that his role was not just to preside over the looting of the nation's treasury while children were getting kidnapped, youth unemployment ballooning and innocent people getting massacred by a crazed gang of religious zealots.  Now, the ball is in the court of other Africans who labor and grind in hopeless aspirations daily, hoping against hope that something good would happen to transform their lives.  Africa is a historically great Continent with a history like none other. The time to recapture and exceed that greatness of old is now.  

May God bless Nigeria; God bless Africa. 

Let's Talk (March 14, 2015) - Transformational Leadership on Development...

Dear Evangelical (Pentecostal) Pastor, You Are Not God - Part 1

This is only the first part in a series of articles that I shall be writing over the next few weeks on this subject. Although it may be so interpreted by misinformed Christians, neither the motivation for this article nor its content is meant as an attack on evangelical pastors. That said, anyone who wants or expects me to defend my status as a Christian has another thought coming and would be wasting his/her time.  I have neither desire nor interest in joining the ranks of modern-day Pharisees who stand on high mountains of arrogance and deceit to proclaim and show off their professed commitment to Christ while taking upon themselves the role of deciding who is a Christian and who isn't; who is heaven-bound and who isn't.  It seems to me that such decisions should be left to God who alone sees the inside of the human heart and knows best. 

For anyone wondering why this is addressed to evangelical pastors, the reason is simple: pastors of traditional churches have always known that they are not God and they have always been willing to accept their status as fallible beings.  They have also always taken the words of Christ to mean exactly what He said. So they avoid judging others just because Christ said not to, and they do not take on the role of choosing who should go to heaven because they actually believe that the Psalmist was right that "...all power belongs to God". 

When a pastor in Nigeria physically assaults a child during a church service because the child denies his accusation that she is a witchcraft adherent, that pastor has obviously assigned to himself the roles of judge, jury and executioner - none of which the Bible assigns to any pastor. When his congregation watches and applauds what the pastor is doing when he does that, they become cheer-leading grave diggers at gallows in a hall that is supposed to be a peaceful solace for healing and deliverance. When another African pastor commands his congregation to eat soil and grass, and they comply, that preacher becomes an oppressive dictator holding court in a house where he is supposed to feed God's children with the Bread of life. When an American evangelical pastor preaches hate and money over salvation or tells his congregation that he saw God wearing a blue suit, he operates outside the word of God and ascribes to himself the kind of prowess that the Bible neither ascribes to, nor desires of man. When congregations applaud these pastors, they become no better than  ignorant sycophants in a jester's court.  The Bible is either right that God is a spirit or the pastor is right that God walks around dressed in suits just like evangelical pastors but I would rather believe the Bible. Spirits do not walk around in blue suits. When pastors ride around in opulence and build universities that are beyond the financial reach of members of their congregations whose sweat and money enriched those pastors to the point that they could build those universities, such pastors are no better than greedy, oppressive users who kick the ladder aside after reaching the top of a building with the ladder's aid. 

Over the last two decades since a new wave of evangelical Christianity kicked into high gear in Africa, the people calling themselves pastors can now be be found at the rate of a dime a dozen.  Too many are pastors not because of the associated responsibilities that were customary for that role but because of the financial profitability and the new powers that evangelical pastors can now wield.  For example, they can (and do often) change people's family and given names at will because they know best that the names hitherto borne by those individuals and their families were not Godly.  But here is the rub: people do not become better human beings because their names have been changed, nor do they become more progressive even in human terms.  Instead, they just become servants to the religious "emperors" who changed their names and fed them a lie that salvation through Jesus Christ is conditional. 

It is only a question of time before this and other articles in this series result in me being an object of attacks from some evangelical Christians and their pastors who will convince them that I am (or have been) used by the devil or that I am the anti-Christ.  Such a claim would ordinarily be laughable but it shouldn't be, since it would be consistent with the manipulative modus operandi that is so commonplace with too many evangelical pastors that the time has come for all thinking, well-meaning Christians to stand up and demand truth and righteousness from those who lead the church of Christ. The Church is bigger than a single pastor and no pastor should be allowed to cause the amount of damage that so many evangelical (pentecostal) pastors are causing in today's world.

Dear evangelical pastor, you are not the church; you are not the foundation of the Church; the Church does not belong to you; you are not the Lord of the Church of Christ. You, dear evangelical pastor, are not God.

Let's Talk (March 8, 2015): Immigration: The African Immigrant Experience