By Pastor Tunde Daodu
THE Christian Association of Nigeria is a body put in place in the country to ensure churches are united as one according to John 17:21. They act as watchman of the spiritual and moral welfare of the Nation; thus promoting understanding, peace and unity across all States of the society through the propagation of the gospel.
In view of the unfolding issues in the country today i.e. incessant killings of Christians since the Sharia law was enacted in the North, the Marriage Law that caught the churches unaware, the withdrawal of some subjects from pupils’ curriculum, the current CAMA slammed on the Church etc., the list is unending.
The predicaments currently rocking the boat of the Church brings to the fore a question begging for an answer among the Christians, why is Christian Association of Nigeria becoming irrelevant and permanently reactive? This is the body that is expected to protect the interest of Christians in Nigeria as a whole.
For some time now, the impact of CAN is not well felt in relation to the objectives which they outlined to achieve. I continued to ponder, why is CAN always reactive, wait for problems to happen before they start to talk and never proactive? This made me look into their constitution, particularly Article 5 referred to as the Objectives.
Kindly check below for the objectives as captured from the CAN constitution:
ARTICLE 5: OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the Christian Association of Nigeria shall include the following:
(a.) To serve as a basis of response to the unity of the Church, especially as contained in our Lord’s pastoral prayer: ‘’That they all may be one’’. ( John 17 : 21)
(b.) To promote understanding, peace and unity among the various people and strata of society in Nigeria, through the propagation of the Gospel.
(c.) To act as a liaison committee, by means of which its member-churches can consult together and when necessary, make a common statement and take common actions.
(d.) To act as watch-man of the spiritual and moral welfare of the nation.
We need more than a spiritual approach
With critical considerations to these objectives vis a vis today’s challenges, l think there is urgent need to quickly review these objectives one after the other to help the body become responsive to issues on time, thereby stop being reactive. It is unfortunate to report that the Church is being scattered right under the supervision of CAN as it seems it hardly realises that the battles are strategically shifting from that of using only guns (which is still there) to spiritual, political, cultural, philosophical, legal etc.
So we need more than a spiritual approach to keep afloat. Nehemiah never made a mistake when he watched his enemies while rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem as he prayed… (Nehemiah 4:9 Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them).
Our adversaries are bent on using all the powers within their means to erode Christianity out of Nigeria and turn us to Turkey that recorded the seven Churches in the Bible, to a nation of less than 1% Christian populace as we speak.
I always laugh when l come across Christians even General Overseers and Bishops who say what happened in Turkey can never happen in Nigeria. I refer to such statements as disappointing and overconfidence. I remember the proposed religious bill of the Kaduna State Governor. That bill would have been passed if not for the way people kicked against it. CAN and all of us Christians need to brace up to win these battles strategically – both now and in the future to come!
Most CAN leaders and members are always silent on crucial matters until the problems boomerang, while a majority of the General Overseers don’t even speak out at all. When asked, why they are not responding to volatile issues which could even have grave implications and consequences on their ministry which they have laboured to build over several years, they will give a simple response, “we are praying about it”.
Most Christians in Nigeria have become docile and silent due to this kind of leadership examples. They rather gloss over sensitive matters as if they are not important. I could only blame the current scenario on parents and churches who had earlier on warned their children against getting involved in politics. Some Pastors even preached to their congregations against it openly in their various churches that politics is a dirty game, it’s basically for thugs, ungodly and sinful people.
They have therefore misled their children and congregations to stay away from politics. The resultant effect of such decisions is what we see today, i.e. the irresponsible laws being rolled out against innocent Christians on a timely basis. Unfortunately, we voted for these “set of people” we don’t even believe in and as such put our destinies in their hands to determine – l wonder what kind of future results we expect consequently from them!
Why CAN is under attack
Why are these people after the church and CAN? It’s simple, smite the Shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered (Matt 26:31). CAN leaders now consider their positions unpopular due to probably unpalatable experiences recorded among them in the past. Some of these experiences were unleashed on them by those national Presidents considered as even Christians. Some former outspoken CAN presidents were not left out. I remember former President Obasanjo in one of his responses to CAN warnings against a particular decision while he was the president saying “CAN my foot” l also remember another former President of CAN that was framed up even during Jonathan era.
In view of all these and the assignments bestowed on them to perform according to the constitution, It is urgent to change the current approach in order to deliver the desired results. Gone are those days when Archbishop Olubunmi Okogie. The then Government often thought twice before it brought up any draconian law against Christians. I look forward to that kind of days again in Nigeria.
I was in a gathering where one CAN executive was eulogising Obasanjo and Jonathan past regimes as one of his best times, perhaps because of what they get any time they were called to Aso rock for meetings. Little did he and his counterparts know that they were selling their birthrights and the future of their children.
Thank God for Christian leaders like Bishop Oyedepo who is speaking up these days against evil agenda and laws. He remains the lone voice in the wildernesses just like John the Baptist (Luke 3:4). You would have expected other General Overseers to join him in the warnings and crusades against the government’s evil agenda, but no, they won’t.
They will rather prefer he speaks alone even on CAMA issues which will give government direct access to regulate churches, have they done regulating themselves – the Ministries and its Parastatals? Other countries being emulated e.g. the UK etc., give grants to churches for charity, do they do this? Its height of insincerity, confusion impregnated with sinister motives.
Bishop Oyedepo, the lone voice
It is not today that Bishop Oyedepo has been fighting battles alone, he was also left alone in 2014 when he prophesied about this current government as revealed to him by God and the evil dividends Christians should expect if they are voted into power… Once again, he is justified concerning those prophecies in line with the current happenings of today! He has always been a “lone majority” (with God) to fight evil tendencies and or agenda.
To the CAN leadership and General Overseers that remains permanently silent, refusing to talk against evil deeds and hiding under the guise of “l am praying about it” God didn’t just tell John the Baptist to pray alone but to be a voice that cries out in the wilderness to condemn evil and prepare the way of the Lord.
Even now, there are some laws that are currently being read on the floor of the house which may likely have future consequences, one of them is on Sharia. I would like to ask, is CAN aware? If yes, what are they doing about it to review alongside and have their input strategically?
Funny enough, the CAMA law recently passed have been on the floor of the house since 2014; the days of Jonathan who was also considered a Christian? Like somebody will say, these people are just nominal Christians… Yes! But we should liaise with them on a constant basis, else they will align with other religions, and receive accolades and popularity at the expense of Christians and the church. Without sounding negative, it’s my candid prayer that we won’t wake up to a law disbanding CAN and its activities one day.
This may happen after the bill would have been read and deliberated upon on the floors of the house for several years and later passed into law! At the rate things are going, CAN could be disbanded without them knowing since they are not proactive. The usual response will be a “cry over a split milk”. The government always believe that after such cries nothing will happen. One would have thought by now that CAN would have taken the government to Court on CAMA issues as promised several weeks ago! But not yet. However, we are still waiting
The following questions are begging for answers:-
1) is CAN’s objective as highlighted in the constitution still relevant in this modern-day realities?
2) do they have the right proactive strategy to survive into the future
3) Will CAN be able to deliver the churches from the hands of these evil geniuses who have vowed to stifle the church?
4) will CAN ever accept they need help?
5) what is the relevance of CAN in this current dispensation of killings and draconian laws against Christians going forward into the future?
The relevance of CAN in this nation today is very worrisome. Until the body becomes proactive, it will be very challenging to earn the respect of their current and would-be members.
l hereby conclude with the following charge to CAN:-
The hierarchical structure of CAN is extremely challenging and will only take the grace of God to give on-time – responses in the face of urgent matters
It is rather unfortunate that the office of the President has little or no power to make any decision. He only brings issues of members to consensus and announces same to the public in form of communiqué or memorandum sent to the government. It will also be nice if CAN could consider having an office of a spokesperson to forestall individuals or churches speak for them at will from all angles, those actions are somehow encouraged since the Christian populace are kept to always wait endlessly for executives to meet and reach consensus; the speed which never corresponds with burning issues at hand.
The leadership of CAN should move away from being political to become much more proactive as they involve more focussed and enlightened elites who understands the rudiments of the game, instead of filling all the executive positions with clergymen who understand little or nothing about administrative matters and how to handle same. The leadership of CAN should always agree that they lack the know-how to handle some sensitive national issues. For CAN to remain alive and vibrant, they will also need a Liaison department set up to constantly interface with both the House of Representatives and that of Senate so as to proactively address any draconian agenda or laws, these evil sects are planning to sponsor against the church.
More of these evil plans may emerge to silence the church and their influential leaders as we move towards 2023 election. Having realised the impact Nigerian Christians made to unanimously vote for the current vice president i.e. Osinbajo which affected the whole electoral process. This is now considered a threat against their evil (future) ambition. Their plan is to perpetually put both the churches and their leaders to sleep – let us not forget, that some of those cabals still remain in Aso rock. Their game plan is to always divide the people along religious lines when the election is ahead… This is barbaric. Nigerians must learn from past mistakes and reject such evil vices.
Bishop Oyedepo who couldn’t be deterred by a comment from Buhari’s aide (Loretta) to look for his own country on CAMA law also made a statement at his Church in Winners Chapel, Ota that “we rule this country together”… With due respect sir, l may differ a bit on this comment, this seems not realistic any more. This brings me to another suggestion for CAN. All efforts must be on deck to contact Churches and General Overseers during elections to encourage qualified members in their churches to contest for the political position – we can change the game! We Christians are supposed to be leaders and not second class citizens.
I hereby advise General Overseers to imbibe moderations and decorum’s in their activities and stop this rat race of planting parishes endlessly, completing auditoriums, unending revival programs etc., let us once again consider the sensitive issues that could erode even the churches, thus stop these evil sects from further dolling out draconian laws against the Church. Let’s get deeper in our survival strategy as we also continue in our prayers to change this ugly scenario once and for all.
Am sure that Churches will have more time to pray and be in peace if CAN could consider all or some of these suggestions. They should also become more flexible to bring in additional members who will graciously increase their professional and financial bases. I also look forward to a strategy that will make all Christians across the nation become CAN’s trusted prayer warriors as they role out fasting and prayers like the days of old.
It shall be well the Church, Christians and Nigeria, what we are currently passing through is a phase and we shall all live to tell the story.
Pastor Daodu is of the Livingspring Christian Chapel of God
