Mbaka’s Friendship with the Presidency Gone Sour — My Take
On Friday, the Presidency, represented by the Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, in his response to Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka’s Wednesday sermon revealed something that I anticipated but was surprised nonetheless.
In a comment titled “Father Mbaka is everything but what he claims,” Mallam Garba said,
“ An outsider distilling the avalanche of verbiage, will be surprised that after supporting the President two times to win the Presidency, Father Mbaka has made a complete U-Turn, preposterously asking President Buhari to resign or be impeached.”
Here is the point of departure: Father Mbaka asked for a meeting and to the shock of Presidential Aides, he came accompanied by three contractors.
The President graciously allowed them in, and to everyone’s surprise, Father Mbaka asked for contracts as compensation for his support.
Shehu did not state the exact day when the meeting happened.
In the sermon that set off this chain of events, Fr. Mbaka said that God is furious with President Buhari and has ordered him to resign or face impeachment by the National Assembly. His opinion was that God’s wrath was directed at the President for his silence in the face of widespread murders across the country.
Responses varied, many supporting the Reverend Father, which is expected given as the mass citizen populace has lost all trust in the present administration.
I don’t trust both parties in the feud. Garba Shehu has a long history of defending all the errors of President Buhari, and making headache-inducing arguments. Also, what was the purpose of releasing this piece of information? Does it have anything to do with the fact that the country is in literal flames right now, or are they simply following their old method of avoiding their own mistakes by pointing out someone else’s?
I grew up listening to Fr. Mbaka’s gospel music, so I had a bias as a child. Growing up, however, showed me that one of the worst things you could do to yourself is to be loyal to the extent of putting your head on the block for that person. I sometimes wonder if Fr. Mbaka actually represents God or his pockets ( God forgive me). In 2015, he said he got a revelation from God that Pres. Buhari would lead Nigeria into the ‘Promised Land’. He said so again in 2019, where Buhari was contesting for re-election. The ‘Promised Land’ Mbaka spoke of has turned to be one of blood flowing like rivers, not the usual milk and honey. Also, if what Garba said is anything to go by, why couldn’t Fr. Mbaka use the normal procedure, if he practices what he preaches? Must he go directly to the head and cause this kind of misunderstandings?
My advice to Fr. Mbaka is to face his ministry and his duty to God. If he ever gets such ‘revelations’, he should keep it to himself, rather than creating avenues for people to doubt God.
The Presidency, on the other hand, should quit being childish and face what is important. The countdown to the next election is on, will the ruling party leave on a good note?
