Anglican Church Crisis: Separating Political Masqueraders From Church Crusaders
By Jude Okafor
Recently, there has been unsavoury development within the Anglican Church community in Anambra State.
The issues border on unproven allegations and counter allegations of transparency, fiscal responsibility and management style of the Spiritual Father of the Church in Anambra, Archbishop Alexander Ibezim.
This has been considered by many, especially non Anglicans as internal affairs of the Church which should be limited and resolved by it.
Interestingly, the Primate, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), has waded into the matter.
Curiously, politics seems to have been the real reason for the sustained attack on the Archbishop and this sentiment appears to have been supported by the position of a group which called themselves, 9-Crusaders.
The 9-Crusaders in their petition to the Primate, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) with the title “To Save The Church, We Must” made a series of claims which stand to be proven but one point appears to have exposed the underbelly of the entire brouhaha.
A section of the petition, precisely, point-3 of the claims stated in part:
“The proceeds of this plunder did not build the Church, some were used to fund politics. In 2020, Chief Sir Uzuegbunam “Uzu” Okagbue, paraded and supported by the then First Lady, Mrs. Ebelechukwu Obiano, stood as the most formidable candidate for Deputy Governor. But Archbishop Ibezim had other plans.
“In 2021, Archbishop Ibezim struck a sordid bargain: N350 million of Church funds obtained from illegal land sales, was delivered to APGA Chairman Chief Victor Oye, to secure the Deputy Governorship Candidate ticket for his own brother, Dr Onyekachi Ibezim”…
From the above, it becomes clear that the so-called Crusade to Save the Church is a smokescreen for continuation of the 2021 governorship election, particularly the jostle for the position of deputy governor slot.
The masqueraders in their unsigned letter not only exposed their politically laced attack on the Archbishop but went further to suggest their source of energy and so unfortunately dragged a former national Chairman of APGA who is of Catholic faith into their dirty political crusade.
Since their intention is to protest the nomination of Onyekachukwu Ibezim as the APGA deputy governorship candidate in 2021 and or maybe stop him from being renominated in 2025, they should have come straight and saved the Church from embarrassment.
While the church had the option of nominating a candidate for any political office, the final decision of who should be selected or appointed rests with the political party.
So why should Onyekachukwu Ibezim, a medical doctor and former military medical officer be the object of this level of vicious attacks.
What is interesting is that the detractors did not find him unfit for the position of a deputy governor, having discharged his duties with the high sense of decorum expected from a public administrator which he is, and to the satisfaction of his principal, Gov. Chukwuma Soludo and the people of Anambra State.
No wonder, upon his nomination as a second term candidate of his party APGA on April 5, Soludo picked Onyekachukwu Ibezim as his running mate at the venue of the congress without going home to think or make consultations about it.
Assuming the Bishop bought the position for his younger brother with N350 million in the first term as alleged by the 9-Crusaders, how much did he pay to secure the position for the second term contest.
There is no gainsaying that Onyekachukwu Ibezim has been a huge asset to the Soludo administration given his experience as an administrator, a refined partyman and a loyal copilot with the governor.
The government of Soludo has performed creditably well and this is attributable to the peace and cooperation the governor has enjoyed from his team members especially his second in command.
Members of any social organisation including the church are at liberty to ask relevant questions concerning their interval affairs and where necessary but they must do so within the limits of decency, morality, altruism, organisational rules and sincerity.
The people behind the agitation can go about their quest as it is within their rights to do so, but they should not make themselves tools in the hands of the devil to cause disaffection within the body of Christ or distabilise the sociopolitical fabric of Anambra State.
Those who think that the best way to get at Onyekachukwu Ibezim is to attack the Archbishop should retrace their steps because in reality, they are heating the polity and working hard to truncate the progressive strides of the Soludo administration.
These desperate and ignoble actions have the potential to attract unintended consequences to the masqueraders.
Jude Okafor, a Social Commentator and Good Governance advocate writes from Awka
