I tried
everything possible to avoid commenting on the fight between the Spiritual
Director of Okunerere Adoration Ministry (OKAM) Rev. Fr. Prof. Paul Obayi and
his Bishop, Most Rev. Prof. Godfrey Onah.
My
inbox is inundated with messages from people asking for my opinion on the
issue. Well, I have no option but to oblige them. It implies that my opinion
matters a lot.
Interesting
and coincidentally, the two reverend gentlemen are university professors. Whereas
Obayi is a professor of mass communication at Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu,
Nigeria, Onah is a professor of philosophy at Pontifical Urban University,
Rome.
It is
on record that Bishop Onah is among the first ten most intelligent Nigerians
living. He has been lecturing in the Roman university, preparing, impacting
knowledge, nurturing and pruning seminarian on their way to catholic priesthood
for the upwards of 30 years and above.
He was
enjoying his calling as a Catholic priest and professor in Rome until he was
called to become a Bishop of his home diocese. He had no option but to obey. He
never grumbled.
I am
also certain that if the Catholic Church tells him to leave Nsukka diocese for
a smaller one, he will obey without asking questions.
Let me
state it unequivocally that in my over four decades of existence in this contemporary
incarnation, this is the first time I am seeing a Catholic priest openly
casting aspersions on his Bishop.
Let me
make it explicit that if the Bishop does not suspend Rev. Fr. Paul Obayi to
serve as a deterrent to other priest that may try that in future, a gateway has
been created for other priest to flout Bishop's orders, insult him and get away
with them.
Fr.
Obayi came up with all manners of accusations against his Bishop, in his quest
to seek public sympathy and contemporaneously expose the Bishop to public
hatred, ridicule and odium. Consequently, hashtags like #justiceforfrobayi and
others are everywhere on the social media. International media houses like BBC,
CNN, VOA, and many more carried the news.
Fr.
Obayi carefully marshalled out a litany of what he had done for the church with
him own money. If a priest doesn't invest money he makes in development of the
church, where will he invest it?
All of
a sudden, he became oblivious of the fact that as a Catholic priest, he owns
nothing. In other words, anything he owns including cash in the bank accounts
of his companies belong to the church and the church has the right to demand
for them anytime.
His
companies and even his salary as a university professor also belong to the
church. In view of his love and magnanimity, Bishop Onah granted Fr. Obayi the
permission to lecture in the University when he has the right to stop him.
Why is
it that all international fraudsters and drug peddlers in the state and beyond
took side with Fr. Obayi and called for the head of the Bishop? There is a
feasibility of ties here.
Has Fr.
Obayi forgotten that in addition to the oath of celibacy, he took an oath of
absolute allegiance and loyalty to his Bishop when he was ordained a priest? Of
course, he was a mature adult in his thirties when the oaths were taken.
So, why
is he complaining? He created a scenario of a consensus between the Bishop and
other priest domiciled in the diocese to jaundice him.
As an
intelligent and enormously spiritual man, the Bishop has seen a lot of things
in the operations of Fr. Obayi and wants to save members of the Catholics
church in his diocese from spiritual abracadabra.
If all
your fellow Catholic priests and the Bishop are independently saying the same
thing against you, it is high time you started asking yourself fundamental
question.
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