The Role of Faith Community in the Fight Against Corruption In Nigeria - A Christian Perspective

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The Role of Faith Community in the Fight Against Corruption In Nigeria - A Christian Perspective
August 17, 2007 | posted by Nigerian Muse (Archives)

THE ROLE OF FAITH COMMUNITY IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA: A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE

By John ONAIYEKAN (CON), Catholic Archbishop of Abuja

Contribution to the Inter-Faith Forum on Corruption

Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC)

NICON Luxury Hotel, 15 August, 2007

I thank the organizers of this forum for inviting me to participate at this symposium. It is a good thing when we have an opportunity to interact at this level as members of faith communities, as well as with the Commission that has been set up to be at the fore front of the battle against corruption in our country. I congratulate the EFCC for this initiative. My contribution will be in form of a series of assertions, which I hope other contributors will be able to confirm or complete.

1. THE CONCEPT OF “FAITH COMMUNITY”: The title of the topic assigned to me uses the expression, “faith community”. If it is true indeed that almost every Nigerian belongs to one faith or the other, then, it could be said that practically, the whole nation belongs to one faith community or the other. If we look at our topic from this point of view, it is clear that we are actually talking about what each and every one of us should be doing. The Nigerians who claim to belong to no faith at all are indeed very few. The important point I wish to make here therefore is that the “faith community” does not mean the leaders of the various religious groups, whether they be bishops, pastors, Imams or Emirs. The faith community includes practically every Nigerian.

It is true of course that, like in every community, the leaders have an important role to play in moving the community along the right direction. But at the end of the day, it is the attitude and behaviour of the members of the community as a whole which will make an impact for good or for evil on the society.

2. THE ROLE OF RELIGION IN SOCIETY: When we speak of the role of faith community in the fight against corruption, we are stressing in particular the role of religion and the spiritual dimension of life in the fight against corruption. Religion in itself never goes around on its own, it is people who express religious ideas. Religion has to do first and foremost with the relationship of humanity with God. Both Christianity and Islam have a strong conviction not only that we do have access to God in our prayer but that we are made up of both body and soul, material and spiritual. In the Christian perspective, we believe that our life on earth should already begin to forge a close relationship with God, a relationship which will continue when we die. We call this “eternal life”, which is understood as communion with God. Religion therefore, deals with the whole person both body and soul, whether in the here and now or in the hereafter. That is why religious communities do not restrict their activities to only organize prayers and other purely religious matters. We also get engaged in programmes of human development, in the areas of education, health, human promotion and so on.

With regard to the topic of our discussion, it is important also to highlight the fact that for Christians, religion involves man both as individual and in his social dimension. It is therefore not a matter of “me and my God”. The most basic prayer of the Christian faith is the ‘Our Father’. We address God not as “my Father” but as the father of all. That is also why the Christian community is organized into religious communities, whether in terms of denominations or ecclesiastical jurisdictions within the same denomination.

3. THE ROOT OF CORRUPTION: Corruption has deep root in the heart of man. Therefore it has to be tackled, also from a spiritual angle. Whatever way we describe corruption, it end up having to do with doing the wrong thing, not behaving as one should behave, flouting moral norms and rules, in particular making away with and keeping what is not due. It is from the heart that the thought of greed and stealing grows. The action itself is the bad fruit of an evil seed sown in the heart. Obviously, there are external dimensions to corruption, which civil authorities must address. That is why the E.F.C.C, and indeed the law enforcement agencies are very important. But the work of all these external agencies cannot fully succeed until the hearts of men and women are oriented towards honest living. This is the special role of religious communities. How do they carry out this role?

4. THE PLAN OF BATTLE: Religious communities have a role to play in the fight against corruption on the level of theoretical teaching of moral principles. Here it may appear obvious that it is clearly wrong to be corrupt. But experience has shown that corruption in Nigeria has taken so many forms that sometimes it is often no longer so clear. The moral principles may be well known. But when it comes to applying them to individual cases and specific instances, many people end up getting confused or pretending to be confused. For example when making money by inflating contracts becomes the normal thing in a society, the conscience is no longer challenged, and people simply act without feeling that they have done anything wrong. That is why the religious communities, especially the leaders, must constantly keep before the minds and hearts of their followers the truth about the moral life that people live.

We also need to remind our followers that the fruit of corruption is only of temporary value and that the judgment of God catches up on everyone. We often say that “honesty is the best policy”, and that indeed is true. We should continue to encourage our people to live honest lives, knowing that God blesses those who make effort and punishes sometimes even in this world those who live a life of iniquity.

5. THE ISSUE OF QUESTIONABLE DONATIONS: Sometimes, it is alleged that religious communities are themselves partly responsible for corruption in our society because they are said to accept dishonest funds from people who are corrupt. It is possible that some religious leader may indeed be aiding and abetting corruption in this way. But in such a case, they are only being human. Every human group has its own bad eggs. But I do not know of any religion that condones in principle the practice of corruption in any form.

However, we cannot close our eyes to the fact that many of those who donate big sums to churches and mosques may not have accumulated their wealth in a transparent and just way. Where this is clearly the case, it is the duty of the religious leader not to welcome such donations. God cannot be bribed. For example, if someone comes to me and says ‘Your Grace, I have come to thank God for the success of my operation last night when we went for armed robbery, here is N200,000.00, being tithe from the N2 million that I stole last night” I will tell such a person to either return all the money stolen or bring everything to me to help him return it to the proper owner. To accept the donation under those terms will obviously be “aiding and abetting” corruption. In fact, to deliberately and knowingly accept and keep stolen goods is to steal. That is why the foreign bankers who accept and keep the loot of our corrupt leaders are themselves thieves. However, when people bring donations to the church, I have a right to presume that they have come in good faith and with a clear conscience. I do not believe that it is the duty of the church or indeed of the mosque to set up investigation panels to probe the sources of every donation that is presented. We would have done our duty if we consistently teach and warn people that God cannot be bribed. Every one will have to settle his/her case with God. We could add also in this connection that the church often carries out social programmes and projects for the common good of citizens. Indeed one of the reasons why the church collects money is precisely to be able to do charity to the poor. It can be said that the dishonest person who steals from public funds could indeed try, through such donations, to make restitution back to the society for what has been dishonestly taken away.

I wish to note, by the way, that these so called donations to churches and mosques are often exaggerated. The fact is that the real big time thieves who steal in millions and billions do not bring their loot to the church or to the mosque. Sometimes what they give their girlfriends for a weekend shopping in Paris or London is far more than the donations they bring to the foot of the altar.

But all that we have so far said is not meant to exempt us religious leaders from exhibiting a transparent attitude in these matters. Above all, we should never allow donations to close our mouths, and prevent us from speaking clearly in condemnation of evil wherever we find it. If we can no longer admonish a ruler because he is generous to the church, then something has gone seriously wrong.

6. STRATEGIC NETWORKING:

Finally, I wish to stress the importance of having a strategy for networking among faith based organization in the fight against corruption. Corruption is a common denominator in our society. It is not restricted to any particular faith community. Therefore, we all have a common battle. Luckily, our religious principles and holy books practically coincide in this matter ‘Thou Shalt not Steal’ is valid both for Christians and Muslims. That being the case, this is an area where we can surely join hands together to send out clear and joint messages condemning corruption in all its forms. We should also be able to work together among the different religious bodies on concrete practical anti-corruption programmes.

Sometimes, we might be tempted to protect and cover up our members who fall foul of the law because “he is our man”. Of course it is our duty to minister unto members of our flock even when they are under accusation of corruption. But that is a different matter from “white-washing” them and openly defending them, as if we want to constitute ourselves into an obstacle in the fight against corruption. It is not difficult for a prudent religious leader to know how far to go in this matter.

Similarly, there is need for the kind of collaboration and networking that this particular forum represents. Unfortunately, for many decades, government and her agencies seem to have difficulties in relating well and working with religious organizations. This was not so in earlier times. We believe it is about time that government agencies seek deliberate channels for welcoming the open hands of collaboration which faith based organizations and religious groups are constantly offering. The fight against corruption is one such area for collaboration. I congratulate the EFCC for taking this step in the right direction.

CONCLUSION AND PRAYER

I wish to conclude that since corruption is a matter of the heart, the heart is where God acts. The Christian Bible says that ‘Unless the Lord builds, they labour in vain that builds and unless the Lord looks after the city, the watchmen keep awake in vain’. We must include prayers in our strategies for the fight against corruption. That is why the church to which I belong, the Catholic Church has composed a special “prayers against bribery and corruption in Nigeria”. That prayer was composed about seven years ago. It is recited day in day out in our churches, in homes and by individuals. We believe firmly that prayer works. I therefore wish to conclude by inviting us all to join me in this prayer:

PRAYER AGAINST BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA

Father in heaven,

You always provide for all your creatures

So that all may live as you have willed.

You have blessed our country Nigeria

With rich human and natural resources

To be used to your honour and glory

And for the well being of every Nigerian.

We are deeply sorry

For the wrong use of these your gifts and blessings

Through acts of injustice, bribery and corruption,

As a result of which many of our people