The write up reads:
Dear Dr Abati
Thank you for your recent article on Fr Ejike Mbaka. I have the impression that you are a scholar. Glancing through your profile, I read you were once media adviser to then-president Jonathan on media and publicity. In addition, I read you obtained your major educational degrees in Nigeria and then one or two other certificates in the United States and the UK. Based on your write-ups, one could say that you are quite exposed and polished. And that is wonderful. Nigeria needs people with the quality of your intellectual acumen. So I would want to assume that you know better than the content of your article titled, “Fr Mbaka’s Sin.”
I listened to you today on Youtube when you said you were going to write an article on Fr Mbaka and you did.
The reason why I am writing this email is four-fold. First, I did not get from your article what Fr Mbaka's "sin" is/was. So I write to seek further clarification. Also, If this Fr Mbaka's "sin" is yet to be revealed to the public but still in your heart, I also wish to inquire whether this sin is venial or mortal.
As you know (I want to presume you know being an erudite scholar that you are), sin is broadly divided into two groups. The Catholic Church calls one "venial" and the other "mortal". And this not just Catholic Church's creation, it is biblical (Cf Matthew 12: 31; 1 John 5:10ff) and thus has been traditionally recognized as such. Venial, means that it is not to be overlooked because it is sin, an offense against God, but can be forgiven. Mortal sin, while it can be forgiven, has to be repented from as soon as possible. According to the Catholic Church’s teaching, it is a sacrilege to receive the Lord in the Holy Eucharist while being aware of mortal sin. So I ask again, where does the "Fr Mbaka's Sin" you wrote about fall into?
Secondly, while observing the long list of bible quotations in your write-up, I felt you might have a well-rounded understanding of the Scriptures. I could not help but wonder if you have ever come across the fourteenth and sixth chapters of the Gospel of Matthew and Mark respectively (Matt 14:13-21 and 6:36-37). In those passages, Jesus dismissed His disciples' suggestion to send away the hungry crowd and asked them [His apostles themselves] to "give them [the crowd] something to eat." That command is still relevant today. To carry out that command, ministers of the Gospel especially Catholic priests fully trained and ordained in the threefold ministry of Jesus Christ as Priests, Prophets and Kings" must shepherd God's people against wolves. Unfortunately, Nigeria has been turned into a den of wolves through the action and inaction of several politicians.
Dr. Abati, it also impressed me you included the Holy Father's homily in your write-up. I wonder if you as well recall one of his homilies where he charged priests to "get out of the sacristy and into the streets" and go to the "existential margins"? The Pope continues, "go be with the sheep and smell like the sheep." The Holy Father stated, "Priests who do not go out of themselves gradually become intermediaries, managers." Priests like Fr Mbaka go above and beyond the Holy Father's call! Have you cared to inquire about litanies of miraculous healings, deliverances (spiritual, physical and emotional) that take place on a regular basis at Fr Mbaka's Adoration Ministry? Would you care to research how many students who depend on him for their tuition? What Fr Mbaka does is practical Christianity not "shamanism" as you averred. Fr Mbaka is only able to carry out such massive mandate of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thirdly, you seemed to have not gone back enough in history about Fr Mbaka's involvement in the Nigerian polity and it's probably because the media was not as advanced then as it is today. Are you aware that Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka warned Sani Abacha that his death was imminent just as the then Pope John Paul II (Now Saint John Paul II) did? You mentioned DSS. Abacha's government sent the military against Fr Mbaka. To have been a consistent public voice for the poor masses for more than twenty five years of his ministry to Christ, Fr Mbaka deserves some respect, appreciation and quality prayers.
Fourth, could it be that "Fr Mbaka's Sin" is his vocal and public challenge of the evil status quo that has enslaved millions of teeming youths from the African nation? Have you ever wondered why there is no single black nation that is industrialized? Does it not bother you that, from the look of things around Africa and beyond that it seems the black race is meant to be perpetual slaves to the rest of other races of the world? You belong to the political elite Dr. Abati, do you have any set plan and clear trajectory of how Nigeria might survive the barbaric onslaught of inaction, incompetence, looting, daily killings, etc? How can the young men and women with no political connection find jobs and make a decent livelihood in Nigeria-a country that lacks nothing but goodwill from its leaders? If a single man like Fr Mbaka in Nigeria's current situation would refuse himself houses and estates in his father's house and rather create not less than 20,000 jobs for the poor masses, imagine what the Federal government of Nigeria can do.
As a former spokesperson of the federal government, in what ways did you contribute to the growth and development of unemployed youths?
Finally, please be reminded that if posterity will hold accountable all evil agents that have enslaved Nigeria as a country, I doubt if it will exonerate those who might have twisted and turned the truth narrative at their whims with their academic tools.
Blessings,
Fr. Christian Amah is our guest writer.
