A devout Christian, Osinbajo averred that the core challenges confronting the country was neither ethnicity nor religion but systemic corruption. “All of the great nations of the world were transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not a gospel that tickles people’s imaginations or dwells on prosperity. It is not a gospel that fits your fancy. It is a gospel that teaches that righteousness exalts a nation,” he said.
Sometime in April in 2017, former President Olusegun Obasanjo in a paper he delivered at the Convention of Victory Life Bible church International (VLBC) Victory City, Abeokuta, also tasked the church on the menace, advising the body of Christ to rise against the scourge. “As part of its evangelical and spiritual mandate,” Obasanjo said, “the church must boldly speak out against corruption in our society. The church must take to the high moral ground and speak out against corrupt leadership and poor governance. The church must embark on moral re-armament for the church and the nation.”
Other Christian leaders, including scholars and clerics, on their part, often cite various verses in the Holy Scripture to illustrate the evil corruption represents in the society. One of such verses frequently quoted is Isaiah 1:4 that reads: “Woe to the sinful nation, a people whose guilt is great, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.”
Against this background, Tribunechurch sought the views of some Christian leaders and clerics on the statement credited to the Acting vice president, especially if the church leaders do deploy their privileged positions to campaign against corruption.
Cardinal Okogie, former Catholic Archbishop of Lagos
His Eminence, Anthony Cardinal Okogie was cautious while reacting to the statement of the vice-president. According to him, government should fight corruption fully rather than blaming the church for any lapse. His words: “He is a leader of a church; he should lead by example. To be sincere, the church is doing enough in this area but the problem is caused by government officials and politicians. The government needs to make legislations that will guide against church leaders’ conduct in the house of God. We have true church leaders and the mushroom church leaders; maybe, he is referring to the mushroom church leaders. The Catholic church has been preaching to its members to avoid bringing to the church offerings from corrupt means. The church has a special programme entitled Prayer against bribery and corruption.
“The government should look into the churches that are not conforming with the true practices of Christianity. For some, the church is now business. What do you expect from a church leader, who establishes a church for pecuniary gains; such (church) leaders will not be morally justified to preach against corruption. The government should first of all fight corruption in totality before asking the church to assist. The corrupt leaders are known to them. The church can only talk to their conscience; it is left for the government to put in place the necessary machinery to fight corruption.”
Chairman, PFN Lagos branch, Bishop Sola Ore
“I think the vice-president should not be quoted out of context. He made the statement at a Christian gathering as a member of the Body of Christ and not on a political soapbox. I believe the church should consider that statement and begin to preach more on what will influence our members to be upright and not just on things that will satisfy or gratify the flesh. I know it could be painful (after all, not every sermon in the church is palatable); let’s take it as one of those messages and work on it. We shouldn’t also forget that he didn’t say he has not heard; he said “rarely” meaning there are people who speak against it. Thank God for the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) which responded objectively that the church do speak and counsel those Christian leaders who speak up not just on corruption but against all other things that the government is not doing right. In the final analysis, even if the church speaks, it is left to the people to listen and change.”
The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, His Grace Most Reverend Dr. Alfred Adewale Martins
“The Catholic church has been praying against bribery and corruption for long. I feel maybe the vice-president is talking or referring to all those prosperous church leaders. We have church leaders and those who are truly church leaders. All these sentimental talks should be avoided .It is sad that our leaders cannot stop corruption in Nigeria. The church has continued to teach its members true morals; it is so sad the way politicians loot the resources of the country and turn back to blame church leaders. So, the government should do more in the area of fighting corruption as the church is always willing and even ready to continue to preach to its members to desist from corrupt practices while the government makes efforts to prosecute and jail those that might be found culpable, because without punishment, such individuals will never stop looting our resources”
African Church Bishop of Abuja, His lordship Right Reverend Peter Ogunmuyiwa
“To be sincere, the vice-president is right to some extent, most of our church leaders romance our politicians and get corrupt money from them; so they are not interested in preaching against corrupt leaders. On whether the church is playing its part in the fight against corruption, I want to say that the most important thing the church does is to preach against immoral practices. The church is the light and salt of the world. As Christians, we should be seen as doing this. The church condemns in totality all ungodly and evil practices. The church preaches holiness and so it is helping government to groom Godly and conscience-driven people. A process that will lead to a nation of Godly people. The government should assist the church by prosecuting those involved in corrupt practices. The church needs to go back to the basic, when there was total decent moral practices among the leaders and other members. Now, there is even corruption in the church. Therefore, it needs to really fight corruption within before it can fight corrupt politicians. Some unscrupulous church leaders have turned the church to a business venture. We need to practise what Christ asked us to do, while politicians also do what they are elected to do.
Pastor Adebayo Fakere, District Coordination Council (DCC), Christ Apostolic Church, Owerri, Imo State.
“The church had been waging spiritual war against corruption all along, but did not rule out the existence of a few bad eggs in the pulpit”, he said.
According to him, such ugly practice corroborates the prophecy that Judas Iscariots would betray his master, Jesus Christ.. However, such bad eggs, he said, could still find favour with God if they repented from their sins. He added: “The same thing happened to Zachariah, who is widely regarded as a corrupt man, but Jesus, in his humility, said his sins have been forgiven.”
and then