21st December, 2010
Again, President Goodluck Jonathan was pictured in the national dailies yesterday kneeling down before the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, supposedly to receive the blessing of God towards his quest to clinch the nation’s presidency in the 2011 elections.
Last Saturday’s ‘blessing’ at the Redemption Camp along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway was not the first time the president would be seen in this posture. Shortly after he was sworn in as president after the death of President Umar Yar Adua, President Jonathan also knelt down before a pastor in Abuja to receive spiritual blessing to enable him carry out his new assignment as the president of the country.
Another report had it that the president also met the funny character at the Ikotun-based Synagogue Church of All Nations and sought spiritual consultations on his presidential ambition. What we do not however know is whether the president also knelt down before Pastor Joshua to seek spiritual blessing for his presidential ambition.
President Jonathan is not alone in this shameful and unbefitting act by public servants and business professionals. Early this year, the outgoing Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Mr. Marvel Akpoyibo, had cause to kneel and roll on the ground to confess his sins before the Lord at a programme organised by The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM), Obanikoro, Lagos. During the programme, the police boss narrated how before he became born again, he used satanic means and charms to protect himself from bullets and attacks from his colleagues in the Force.
But he later realised that all these means of protection are ephemeral and do not last.
According to him, the surest protection against bullets from robbers and spiritual attacks from colleagues is the presence of God in one’s life.
We are amazed at the level to which governance has been reduced in Nigeria by its leaders who instead of tackling the multifaceted problems facing the country have reduced governance to a level of indignity. Bereft of ideas to move the country forward, these leaders often hide under the cloak of seeking spiritual solution to solve the physical problems facing the country.
Do we need to remind President Jonathan that Nigerians are going through tough times and desire a leader who can meet their aspirations and alleviate their sufferings? Do we need to remind him that the times we are in now demands serious focus on poor power supply, bad roads and provision of employment for the teeming youths of our country? Do we need to remind him of the general insecurity in the country caused by the wave of kidnappings and robbery attacks?
Instead of junketing around and seeking spiritual help from all types of charlattans who call themselves pastors and prophets, shouldn’t Pesident Jonathan stay focused to tackle the problems facing Nigerians and allow God to bless the works of his hands?
It is our considered opinion that Jonathan should stop degrading the Office of the President by kneeling down before every Tom, Dick and Harry to lay hands on him in order to actualise his presidential ambition. The Office of the President is more than that. It a serious one demanding hard work and and not for  weaklings who will be running to pastors at the sight of every serious challenge to his position.
The picture of President Jonathan yesterday closing his eyes and kneeling down like a pupil being scolded by his teacher, to say the least, offends our sensibility. It is not only degrading of the position of the president of a multi-ethnic and religious country like Nigeria, it is an affront on other religions. The president is expected to be the father of all. He should not be seen as showing preference for any religion or giving the impression that one religion is superior to the other. By kneeling down before different pastors, the wrong message the president is sending is that he can achieve his aim only through the blessing of the pastors. This should not be so.
