The Executive Secretary of Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC), John Kennedy Opara, is a rare Christian. Like the former president of the US, the late John F. Kennedy who was assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas, Okpara’s tenacity, steadfastness and commitment to humanity endear him to most Nigerians, non-Christians alike. He spoke on among other national issues, the increasing spate of violence in the land, religious tolerance, relevance of religious pilgrimage to the citizenry and whether he will go into politics. The Assistant Editor (Arts), OZOLUA UHAKHEME reports.
It is common knowledge that Nigeria is currently facing an unprecedented challenge in terrorism. This is also linked to religion and to some extent politics. As a major personality in Christendom what is your take?
I want to say that no religion encourages destruction of lives. No religion allows people to take lives. People don’t understand the meaning of religion. It means that every man or woman is free to worship and wherever he wants to worship. And it mustn’t be that I must get you to worship in my church or mosque. God created us as Nigerians, he created us Christians, Muslims and some don’t go to church. No matter how I try or everybody tries all Nigerians cannot be Christians, it is practically impossible. There is no way every Nigerian can become a Muslim even if we have 20 Muslim presidents back-to-back. Most of us take the issue of religion to the extreme. How are you sure of the lineage of the person who is being persecuted for his religious leanings? You may discover that you are linked up somewhere. So what do you stand to gain from all these killings and maimings? It is unfortunate that someone will kill in the name of religion. It is not acceptable at all and I want to say I have a lot of respect for my Muslim friends, most of them that are reasonable and sound do not agree on this either and say everyone of us values our lives.
Most of what is happening are politically motivated acts cloaked in religion. And I tell you politics will fail you and human beings will fail you. The only thing that is permanent is God.
As head of a Christian body and a key player in that domain, what is your commission doing to resolve these crises?
You know I have taken part severally in some of the inter-religious dialogues and meetings and the CAN president has been calling series of meetings between Christians and Moslem leaders all for us to find a common ground to understand ourselves better. Myself and my friend, the Hajj Commission Chairman also relate a lot and I will give you a practical example. Before we got our present headquarters, we were accommodated by the Hajj Commission for three years. We were given accommodation at no cost. In fact, it got to a point they had to pack from the building accommodating the two commissions because we couldn’t stay together as we were growing and the space constraint was there. A Moslem leader conceded his accommodation to me, he was the landlord and I was the tenant. And when I vacated after three years, I gave him the key and I said Bello, I am very grateful and I invited him for the commissioning of our new office and he obliged me. He did what most of my Christian brothers would never have done and I can never deny him anything he wants from me.
I always believe that we are the change that others see. And you must be the change that the world must see. I always tell people that the greatest sickness today is not HIV but lack of love.
The ongoing National Confab is proposing that government should reduce its sponsorship of pilgrims to the holy land, thus making pilgrimage a personal affair. Also, some delegates are advocating for the review of the commission. How do you react to this?
I read about it and I said the greatest challenge they had was the issue of communication. What they should have done if the delegates wanted to do a thorough job is to invite the DG of the Hajj commission and I to tell them about these commissions. By the way, they don’t know that these commissions generate a lot of revenue which we pay to the Federal Government. We generate money here.
Pilgrims pay what we call administrative charges, also the ground handlers and air carriers pay administrative charges too and that money goes to government and government can bank on our internally generated revenue (IGR). My own model is to leave an organisation that is self sustaining and pay its overhead without relying on government.
The Federal Government does not sponsor people on holy pilgrimage. Government sponsors doctors and nurses, at times 50 doctors and 50 nurses. It is the same thing applicable to the Hajj. People say what is not true. Agreed that during last year operation we had an increase in the number of self-sponsored pilgrims of 100 percent. We are not sitting pretty either, we are doing all we can to encourage self-sponsorship through adverts on radio and word of mouth and the turn-out is unbelievable because this is what they owe themselves.
We are also using it to transform the citizens of this country. What is pilgrimage all about? In the NCPC, pilgrimage is used as a tool for moral and spiritual transformation. We believe that when Christians go on holy pilgrimage and are spiritually transformed, they will come back as citizens of our great country and move Nigeria forward and pursue peace where the enemies of peace may be sited. And I have testimonies of people that have been touched by God. Any responsible government will always look out for the welfare of its citizens.
It is practically impossible for any government to fold its hands and say we are not interested. Massive movement of Nigerians entails a lot in the diplomatic circle and other areas. No country will deal with you as an individual. Like the Hajj that goes with more than 100,000 Nigerians, you expect Federal Government to sit down and watch them.
What of the overhead costs of these commissions?
The offices that government set up are for administrative convenience. When you have a commission administering the process of pilgrimage, it gives a standard. Why we are not able to achieve what we want to achieve is because we do not plan. I believe what government is doing is commendable, many people are gainfully employed. For example, part of our success story this year is our own Christian Pilgrim Guest House. Christians are lodged there and this generates IGR, it is not free. I think something is missing somewhere for people to advocate the scrapping of NCPC and the Hajj Commission. This is very unfortunate.
We are also doing something new. We are partnering with the Ministry of Agriculture, exposing our pilgrims to the area of agriculture, so they can learn how to farm and do other things when they get there, it’s a rare privilege.
You grew up as a strong Catholic who dreamt of becoming a priest. Are you still within the Catholic faith?
I was born a Catholic but you know my position is very simple. I am born a Catholic but I am a Pentecostal by fellowship and I always tell people I am an Anglican by association because many of my friends are Anglicans and when they do their programmes I have to join them. Many of the fathers who have blessed me and inspired me to be who I am today are men of Pentecostal fellowship and I fellowship with them. When I visit them I hear the word of God and my faith increases.
Are you interested in politics?
I am one man that cannot do anything except the Lord speaks to me and tells me what to do. He has never told me to go into politics. For everything you do, the Lord must lead you.
Nigeria is witnessing an increase in influx of people on religious tourism especially with some Pentecostal churches. What is NCPC doing about this development?
I was at the last Holy Ghost congress in June and I tell you what we have done since we came on board is to introduce what we call the local content. We now have Nigerians who are into ground handling services, providing services to inbound pilgrims and work with different churches. There are so many of them who can take care of people coming from different countries. We register them to empower them. The churches are aware and have responded positively with some registering their own ground handlers with us and the government generates IGR from this, they pay tax and other levies, you know. We make sure we license them and empower them.
Who do you admire?
I have come across great men but one man that has stood out without fear of contradiction (because he is my boss) is President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. He is a man with wisdom. He is a man I admire so much. I also admire President Barrack Obama of the US and Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye.
