It all reads like a fairy tale. Bolanle, wife of Lagos State governor, Akinwumi Ambode got the chaplain of Chapel of Christ The Light Alausa, Venerable Femi Taiwo sacked for allegedly disrespecting the First Lady during an anointing service on May 14.
The sacked chaplain allegedly incurred the wrath of the ‘all-powerful’ First Lady when he refused to anoint her ahead of other members of the church. For his audacity, the innocent chaplain was booted out in 24 hours from his official residence with the hapless family.
No one will read such a report and not been gutted. A ‘common’ chaplain has been relieved of his job for doing virtually nothing wrong. The First Lady, like most elite Nigerians, wanted preferential treatment and stormed out of the chapel, refusing all entreaties to be appeased.
It’s all so easy to take sides in a matter of this nature. In fact, most Nigerians have. But it’s better to separate facts from fictions. It’s safer to consider the issue dispassionately without holding brief for either party. It’s nicer to get over the emotive reactions to consider what’s really at stake.
First, I am of the considered opinion that the sack was reported to the media. Punch newspaper, which broke the story with several follow-up reports, couldn’t have discovered the development without a tip-off. So, who tipped off the media? Could it have been the aggrieved priest or sympathetic members?
Like most initiates are aware, when the media is tipped-off for such a sensational story, there is always a motive. So, what’s the motive? Could it have been to get ‘justice’ for the priest? Or is to fight back a perceived powerful force? To put the First Lady where she belongs?
Okay, let’s review the events of May 14 based on media reports. The First Lady, a member of the church, reportedly arrived the service early. For some time, according to the media, she had been nursing resentment towards Venerable Taiwo. Who goes to a church where the officiating priest is seen as hostile or not well-meaning?
When it was time for the anointing, Mrs Ambode reportedly chose to go forward along with other willing church members. If there was a no love-lost, pray will she want to be anointed by the same priest? Won’t she know that the intercession of a priest you don’t believe in cannot be answered?
The Punch’s report said she stormed out of the church. But if such an important personality had other urgent issues to attend to, could that be said to be a storming off? I guess Nigerians like to play the victim’s card. It’s a ploy that many guilty Nigerians play on to maximum effect.
If the First Lady indicated interest in getting the anointing oil, protocol dictates that she is attended to first. Didn’t the Bible ask we give honour to whom honour is deserved? The church, in a rejoinder on May 27, also admitted that protocol was breached.
Away from the events of that day, where is the evidence the sack had anything to do with the First Lady? Did the sack letter originate from her desk or bear her signature? This is germane to ask because the chapel also formally stated its day-to-day operation is not under the office of the First Lady. The Ministry of Home Affairs, as it is well-known, coordinates activities of the chapel.
What beats discerning minds is the desperation to pin the sack on the governor’s wife. Could someone somewhere be targeting her to rubbish her husband whose performances in two years even the blind attest to? Why is this coming right on the dot of the administration’s second anniversary? Is there a chance that someone thinks this is a perfect diversion from the good works of the governor?
Media reports already indicated the priest involved had been queried in the past by the chapel’s management. Has anyone bothered to check up why he was queried?
This is pertinent ask to instead of allowing emotions to override our reasoning. Can the priest, in all honesty, face God and claim to be above board? If the Lagos State government hired him, can’t it also fire him?
To those playing the well-rehearsed religious card, it is necessary to let them know that palace priests are always vulnerable to such likelihood. God designed the church to act as a check to government. But when the church chooses to align with government, it is always have a bad ending. It creates the infamous ‘CAN, my foot!’ explosion of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
When government appoints you as a priest, you either leave on a high or get booted out. Those are the two possible scenarios for those who choose to play such delicate games. Our Christian leaders should learn to stay off government patronage. They should focus on God, instead of government. If they do and government still goes after them, then they can petition God to fight their case. And God has always vindicated them when they allow Him to fight their battles.
If indeed Venerable Taiwo has been wronged, let him leave the battle to God. Isn’t that what they preach to us every Sunday? Now is the time to do the same.