Every Biafran clergy across the world must embrace liberation theology now

Every Biafran clergy across the world must embrace liberation theology now

Simply put, liberation theology is a movement that attempts to interpret Scripture through the plight of the poor. True followers of Jesus, according to liberation theology, must work toward a just society, bring about social and political change, and align themselves with the working class. Jesus, who was poor Himself, focused on the poor and downtrodden, and any legitimate church will give preference to those who have historically been marginalized or deprived of their rights. All church doctrine should grow out of the perspective of the poor. Defending the rights of the poor is seen as the central aspect of the gospel.

Here is an example of how liberation theology views Scripture through the lens of the poor and destitute: in Luke 1:52–53, Mary praises the Lord, saying, “He has brought down rulers from their thrones / but has lifted up the humble. / He has filled the hungry with good things / but has sent the rich away empty.” According to liberation theology, Mary is expressing joy that God has liberated the materially poor and fed the physically hungry while bringing down the materially rich. He is a God, in other words, who favors the destitute over those with wealth.

Liberation theology has it roots in Latin American Roman Catholicism. Its rise is seen as a response to widespread poverty and the mistreatment of large segments of Latin American society. An influential book promoting liberation theology is Fr. Gustavo Gutiérrez’s A Theology of Liberation (1971).

Promoters of liberation theology appeal to the Old Testament prophets for support. For example, Malachi 3:5 warns of God’s judgment on those who oppress the working man: “‘I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against . . . those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,’ says the LORD Almighty” (see also Isaiah 58:6–7; Jeremiah 7:6; Zechariah 7:10). Also, Jesus’ words in Luke 4:18 show His compassion for the oppressed: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free” (cf. Isaiah 61:1).

Liberation theologians also use Jesus’ words in Matthew 10:34 to promote the idea that the church should be involved in activism: “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Jesus, according to liberation theology, pushed not for social stability but for social unrest.

During the period of the Second World War (1939-1945) Pope Pius XI accused the Nazi government of sowing 'fundamental hostility to Christ and his Church', he along with his bishops and entire clergy fought for the liberation of the world against Adolf Hitler Nazi government.

During the genocide war against Biafra (1966-1970), the Church through the world council of churches, individual Irish reverend fathers and sisters and the local church played very prominent role , especially in saving the lives of millions of starvation bound children .

Salvadorian archbishop Oscar Romero who was assassinated 35 years ago in San Salvado however preached that it was not enough for the church to simply empathize and care for the poor. Instead, believers said, the church needed to be a vehicle to push for fundamental political and structural changes that would eradicate poverty, even – some believed – if it meant supporting armed struggle against oppressors.

In Nicaragua, priests inspired by liberation theology took an active part in the 1979 Sandinista revolution against Anastasio Somoza’s rightwing dictatorship. The philosophy also influenced leftist rebels in Mexico and Colombia, where one of the main guerrilla factions was led for nearly 30 years by a defrocked Spanish priest, Manuel Pérez. Little wonder since his election as pontiff in 2013, Pope Francis’s insistence that the church be “for the poor”, and his pointed criticisms of capitalism and consumerism have gone a long way to rehabilitate the liberation theology movement and incorporate it within the church. Experts point, too, to Francis’s decision to name Oscar Romero, the iconic Salvadoran archbishop who was assassinated by rightwing death squads in 1980, as a martyr as another sign of the resurgence in liberation theology.

On Sunday, 28 February 2016,the Pope pronounced Biafra at the Vatican city before a large of Biafran flag waving congregation and gave a ‘POPELY’ promise that he is going to join other world leaders to look into the Biafran quest for self-determination.

However, the Biafran clergy numbering millions at home and abroad have done nothing to show their presence as indigenous people of Biafra whose flocks are under siege. When will the clergies from Biafra start to use the pulpit to shout the plight of indigenous people to the world .Who are my to judge the anointed man of God but our local priests have evidently compromised in the funds from the congregation rather than use the bible to preach liberation and deterrence, the need for them to physically protect themselves since the government has failed to provide them with the much needed security of life and property.

May be our clergy are waiting for incidents such as this to call for local vigilante .As reported by the punch newspaper on March 13, 2016 :’’Fulani herdsmen’s mindless Agatu killings

THE deadly escapades of arms-bearing marauders suspected to be Fulani herdsmen are becoming increasingly unsettling. They have left their sanguinary footmark in practically every part of the country that has had the misfortune of receiving them in their seemingly unstoppable march, ostensibly, in search of pastures to graze their cattle. In their latest outing, they have been very unsparing of the host communities. They have rendered some villages in Benue State a gaping wound, spewing forth a river of human blood.

No immediate reasons have been proffered for the latest attacks. Neither has anybody been able to give the precise number of people killed; but reports say it has been in their hundreds. The account of Paul Ede, who coordinated the coalition of civil society groups that visited the National Assembly last week to protest the latest killings in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State, claimed that 400 persons lost their lives in that orgy of violence. However, the Commissioner of Police, Benue State Command, Paul Yakadi, who visited the villages, was quoted as saying that only “three corpses were seen in Aila and Adagbo.”

Very heart-rending, however, was the account of the police chief, who recounted how the villages were razed to the ground and emptied of their original inhabitants only to be taken over by heavily armed Fulani herdsmen and about 5,000 cattle. Since when did it become the norm for unauthorised persons to be going about “heavily armed”? In a situation where the heinous crime of sacking whole communities was committed –

about 7,000 people were said to have fled their homes – how come it did not occur to the commissioner that the heavily armed men he saw at the crime scene were the first suspects, who should be taken in for questioning?

Once again, the events in Benue have demonstrated that human lives do not matter in Nigeria. In the usual Nigerian fashion, it will not be surprising if nobody is ever made to account for the massacre in Benue State. This was exactly what happened in 2013 when over 10 Department of State Service men and 74 mobile policemen were waylaid and slaughtered in broad daylight in Nasarawa State. The only response from the then head of the security agency, Ita Ekpenyong, was that the culprits, by the name of Ombatse Cult group, had been forgiven. Where in the civilised world is a society run in that manner?’’

Our clergy in the Diaspora should under stand that to whom much is given , more is expected, are you there to chase hard currencies or show concern to the plight of embattled indigenous people of Biafra?

We all know the power of the pulpit in lobbying the international community to rally support for the quest for Biafra freedom. The mosques on Fridays have long been the political rallying point of the Moslems from where they plan against the Christians, why don’t Christian Biafran clergy do the same ?

Why must Biafran Christians always be at the receiving end ? Owu nani udara mutara nwa ana apiwa onu..

To my Biafran clergy and their generals(The knights), it is time for action else you will soon have an empty auditorium/church if the Agatu style of Christian massacre is not checked using liberation theology to teach the congregation the simple techniques of self defense.

Long live United States of Biafra.

-M.M.Mbanaja.