President Jonathan replies Osinbajo Criticisms With Bible Passages

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FG Replies Osinbajo Criticisms With Bible Passages In an attempt to respond to Osinbajo’s comments, the Special Assistant to President Jonathan on New Media, Reno Omokri, on Thursday, December 25, 2014, took to his official Twitter handle and condemned the running mate of General Muhammadu Buhari for criticising President Jonathan out of a desire for personal gain. According to Omokri, Osinbajo’s words of condemnation on Twitter does not befit an ordained pastor. The Special Assistant to President Jonathan stated that instead of Osinbajo serving as an agent of transforming politics with the light of his moral compass, with his recent comments, he is conforming to the prevailing political culture such that one can not differentiate between a clergyman and a regular politician. Below is Omokri's tweets One of the biggest misconceptions of the world, in my opinion, is the view held by some that members of the clergy should not participate in politics or government. I have read The Holy Bible and The Quran and to the best of my knowledge, nowhere in both books is such a notion promoted. As a matter of fact, the first usage of the word ‘government’ comes from The Holy Bible and the United States of America lifted the word ‘President’ directly from The Bible book of Daniel (chapter 6 verse 3). Some of the greatest figures in The Bible were prophets and political leaders at the same time. Joseph was Prime Minister of Egypt and political ruler of the then known world but he was also described as a prophet and diviner of God’s will. Daniel was appointed President of Babylon by King Darius yet he continued to function in office as a judge and prophet. In the New Testament, Joseph of Arimathea was a counsellor (the equivalent of today’s Senator) and he was a devotee of Our Lord and Saviour, Yeshu’a (whom some call Jesus). Likewise, the first African Christian, the Ethiopian Eunuch, was a high official in Queen Candace’s government. So, there is nothing wrong with men of God coming into politics. It is desired and it will help clean up politics. What is wrong however, is for men of God to come into politics and instead of being agents of transforming politics with the light of their moral compass, they end up conforming to the prevailing political culture such that you can not differentiate between them and a regular politician. In The Bible, we read how an anointed man of God, a prophet by name Balaam, allowed his love for power and money mislead him into accepting to curse the anointed of God after he had been hired by King Balak of Moab to do just that. Eventually, Balaam recognized the folly of his ways after an angelic visitation which prompted his donkey to speak to him. This divine visitation caused him to repudiate the lure of money and power dangled by King Balak to whom he uttered the now very famous words “How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed?”-Numbers 23:8. It was this historical incident that came to my mind when I read Professor Yemi Osinbajo’s words of condemnation on Twitter where he had said President Jonathan runs a “visionless” government. Professor Osinbajo is an ordained pastor as I am and one of the ethics of our calling, enshrined in the homiletic code, is that men of God should not criticize out of a desire for personal gain, but should do so advisedly and only if there are genuine and compelling reasons to do so. As a matter of fact, Philippians 2:3 says we should “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves”. Pastor Osinbajo regularly leads his congregation in prayers. But let me ask him if it makes any sense physically or spiritually to speak negatively about your nation and pray positively about yourself as if you can prosper in your home after cursing it with your mouth? Nigerians expect Professor Osinbajo to wake up and smell the coffee and start telling them what he, his principal and their party plan for Nigeria and not to spend his time throwing stones at the innocent. Gone are the days when you promote a candidate based on his region and religion. And Nigerians are far too aware in 2014-5 for any politician to grandstand by using highfalutin empty words to cast aspersions on his/her opponent in order to hide the inadequacy of their vision and plans. I understand that when all you have is a hammer everything begins to look like a nail and so having nothing but criticism to dish out, Osinbajo is likely to keep throwing stones. However, seeing as he is a pastor, let me remind Professor Osinbajo of the immortal words of Jesus to critics in John 8:7-“he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone”. As we approach 2015, I would like to point out something to Professor Osinbajo. In 2011, there were four major Presidential candidates: President Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP, Nuhu Ribadu of the ACN, Ibrahim Shekarau of the ANPP and Muhamaddu Buhari of the CPC. Does it not say much about President Jonathan’s vision and his ability to communicate it effectively that of the three candidates who contested against him in 2011, two of them, Nuhu Ribadu and Ibrahim Shekarau, today share his vision for Nigeria and are helping him actualize it within the Peoples Democratic Party? It says a lot about the President. And especially, it is evidence of the fact that President Jonathan is a man of vision. Who knows, maybe Professor Osinbajo will see the light and come to appreciate the President’s vision after the 2015 election. This has been a constant pattern with Buhari’s running mates from 2007’s Ume Ezeoke who saw enough reason to work with the PDP after that election, to Pastor Tunde Bakare, who shared and participated in the President’s vision for a National Conference for Nigeria. In conclusion, let me say that it is obvious to all discerning people that God has blessed this man from Otuoke known as President Goodluck Jonathan. Without godfather, without scheming, without over ambition, God divinely set him on a trajectory that has seen him ascend the highest office in the land. Even when power was within his grasp, the then Vice President Goodluck Jonathan refused to take it, preferring to wait on God to elevate him. I can say without a shadow of a doubt in my mind that God has put President Jonathan where he is. And until He is done with him, no man, no pastor, no prophet can curse whom God has not cursed. http://www.naij.com/349596-fg-replies-osinbajo-with-bible-passages.html

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