Christians were still bowing their heads in meditation and prayer, in commemoration of the trial and ultimate crucifixion of their Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, founder and father of the Christian faith, when a law suit was deposited at the alters of the Church, summoning the leaders of the Church to appear in court, to respond to claims of refusing to open the doors of their educational institutions for schools to reopen, after a protracted Teachers’ strike. In addition, those who are putting up the claim are equally demanding a total sum of FCFA 150 billion as damages. Under the context of the law, there is certainly nothing wrong with this. It is a due process which no one should quarrel with.
As many will argue, it simply sustains our rights for the individual or group, to hold their personal opinions about everything necessary. But to ardent believers in the faith, it is considered as a spiritual challenge akin to persecution of the Church. Which is why, even after Bishop Bushu and other Church leaders earlier reacted by saying they are prepared to answer every charge against them in court, yet going by Bishop Bushu’s recent press statement, he still believes that ‘‘God is intervening in their matter’’ To many pius believers, Christ being put on trial once more. This sounds very much like the spiritual angle of the matter.
But whichever way we look at it, we believe that since the matter is already in court, the court should be allowed to follow the due process of the law. As for the Bishop’s contention that God is intervening in their matter, the confusion that has already set in, where by those who purported to be leading the So-called Parents’ Consortium are beginning to back out, is likely to lend much credence to the Bishop’s assessment of the situation.
We want to believe that the present crisis in the country has generated enough tension, so much that the government now, more than ever before, needs to tread the ground with greater caution in order not to allow itself to be caught in the heart of any form of intrigue designed to divert attention from the real issues that are virtually rocking the nation. The so-called Parents’ consortium is already beginning to appear from a distance as a front for, either the government or a group of people in government who believe they can manipulate issues to their advantage against popular view.
One thing that should be noted is that the so called consortium seems to be hosted by shadow personalities very closely linked with government, three of them being senior military officers. We may ask: Why should three senior Army Officers volunteer to set up such a consortium under the present circumstances. The other suspicious link is in the person of Barrister Julius Achu, a civil party Lawyer involved in the case against Agbor Balla and Co. who today stands as Counsel for the ambiguous Consortium that is still to prove its legitimacy.
We stand by our appreciation of government action so far in its move towards finding a solution to the crisis, and we shall continue to maintain this position unless government shifts from its present mood and takes on another mind-set. As we have always argued, the process may be slow, but we are moving somewhere all the same.
On the other hand, if the Church relies on the intervention of God, and they have urged their faithful to pray for this intervention, we would strongly suggest that these prayers should not be limited to the intervention of God only as far as their matter in court is concerned. Let these prayers spill over to the overall crisis situation in the country. At a point, one may be tempted to think that as far as the legal aspect of the various cases is concerned, the numerous adjournments could serve as a period of reflection for whoever may be concerned. A period of reflection that should stimulate our love for the country, to enable us throw over board our mean concepts of society and embrace those hard core issues that make a nation great and its people proud.
Experience has proved that a nation that does not believe in its own values as they are related to the good of its peoples, based on its own history, that nation may be heading for a failed state, no matter how much demagogues may try to paint it otherwise. We are certainly not that kind of a nation. We recognize our values and we know our history. The rest remains for sound judgment.