The pull-him-down syndrome

BY AZU OKAFOR

In life (both present and historical), we often hear, see or read about the curious concept of sibling rivalry, brother killing brother, prophet killing prophet, on and on and on. These are dated concepts stemming from jealousy, envy and all other forms of destructive competition. The Biblical story of Joseph the Dreamer and his siblings is an instructive case study. We have read the bestseller by Jeffrey Archer titled Kane and Abel.

The theme also extends to the Judas syndrome, but how does one explain persistent attacks against a personality you have never met nor directly related to? Genuine men of God should not descend from their exalted office of preaching the gospel, spreading love, hope and charity, to be criticising and condemning their fellow labourer in the vineyard of God, just as Fr Nwebe Joy is doing to Evangelist Ebuka Obi.

For proper context, Fr Nwebe Joy is a clergyman ordained some ten years ago, whose congregation scattered immediately thereafter. Among the grouses and contentions of Fr Nwebe is that Evangelist Ebuka Obi’s virgin purity posturing has harvested most traditional Igbo Catholics into the Zion Movement fold. He also faults the open raw deliverance practice of the evangelist, which he claims strips the candidates of dignity. This fault-finding goes against the Biblical statement that Christ prevailed over demons and made open show of them in triumph!

Evangelist Ebuka Obi operates by inspiration, and his method certainly propagates the deliverance gospel better than the secret method!

In an apparent attempt to discourage some believers in the diaspora (whom Fr Nwebe must have perceived to be key financial members), he claims the Evangelist is using the virtues of the Americans! How ridiculous can a supposed Man of God get to be? In another episode, Fr Nwebe claimed he visited a member of Ebuka Obi’s Zion ministry and discovered SHE was not wearing a BRA! How come?

In one video available in the public domain, Fr Nwebe, in an attempt to debunk the chastity tenets of the evangelist, issued a curse by pulling his footwear to connect to the bare soil, a practice which I found disturbing as an exclusive practice of traditionalists and highly unbecoming of a genuine man of God.

Close watchers are finding it difficult to comprehend why Evangelist Ebuka has not taken drastic action against the antagonism of Fr Nwebe by prosecuting him for a clear case of cyber-bullying and blackmail or reporting him to the parent Catholic authorities at the Vatican. Is Fr Nwebe now a full-time blogger or an influencer paid to mudsling his colleague? Is there a puppet master behind this whole charade? Only time will tell!

One thing is clear – Fr Nwebe is gravitating to the status of Prophet Killer just as the brothers of Joseph in the Bible case study, who out of envy declared: here comes the dreamer; Let us kill him now, and see what becomes of his lofty dreams! Shall he also rule over us, his elder brothers?

Let me, on this note, implore the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria and all the Generals in the body of Christ to caution Fr Nwebe Joy against his pull-him-down practices. Such attacks are detrimental to the image of the church and its missions. A kingdom divided against itself will not stand the test of time. Shalom!

Azu Okafor, a concerned Catholic faithful, wrote from Awka, Anambra state.