Stories from the East: Akachaam, apostasy and matters related thereto!

It was a day the Catholic world and the Nnewi community as a whole had looked forward to: the dedication of a cathedral, which was where Catholicism started at Nnewi. Nnewi, the centre of the motor parts business in Nigeria and the industrial base of the East, was to host the highest congregation of bishops in Nigeria, and the Okwuani Cathedral would be FULLY dedicated to God. Preparation was top-notch, with special attention to protocol, security, ‘item 7’ and ensuring the ‘Catholicness’ of the event. The event lived up to its billing. Men and women of timbre and calibre attended, including Peter Obi, who, however he tries, would always distract activities due to his crowd-pulling capabilities. The host bishop, the attendees from the Catholic world across Nigeria and the planners were already celebrating the successful dedication when we experienced the AKACHAAM moment. One Louis Okoye, who was fully dressed as a knight, removed his shoes, shook the dust off those shoes and, barefoot (so that the soil would bear him witness), declared that he had ‘kachaaed’; that he was leaving Christianity and Catholicism because late Ifeanyi Ubah, who ‘built the Church’, was not recognised by the Bishop. The man showed a good knowledge of the Bible because Christ directed his disciples to shake the dust off their feet wherever they were not welcomed. (Mt 10:14 But he never told them to do so whenever they disagreed with the actions of others. I don’t know if Ifeanyi Uba or his family commissioned him to do ‘aluta’ on their behalf, but the man’s antics drew global attention because he claimed to be a knight, a defender of the faith. And when a defender of the faith publicly denounces the faith (apostasy) with such a level of theatrics, one wonders if he actually understood the faith and if he understood what Catholic knighthood was all about. The akachaam moment was also an indictment of the knighthood recruitment process!

Ifeanyi Ubah had a bulldozer physique, and he usually bulldozed his way around; that was why and how he asked the Church to bulldoze its existing cathedral so that another, built in his image and likeness, would emerge. (Such old structures overseas are kept as historical monuments, and even in Nigeria, as in the case of Holy Cross, Lagos)! However, for whatever reason, he could not complete the church building, and another bishop asked him to hand off the project and then invited the entire faithful of Nnewi to get involved in the project. As this was happening, an expenditure of about N200m incurred with the authorisation of Ifeanyi Ubah, the former benefactor, was and is probably still outstanding.

“As things stand, the failed knight and his supporters have told two lies. One, Ifeanyi Ubah did not singlehandedly build the cathedral. I believe that he contributed, but it was not the ‘Cathedral built by Ifeanyi Ubah’.”

As things stand, the failed knight and his supporters have told two lies. One, Ifeanyi Ubah did not singlehandedly build the cathedral. I believe that he contributed, but it was not the ‘Cathedral built by Ifeanyi Ubah’. This matter was already in the market square before his death. One pro-Ubah friend of mine said he completed the cathedral, but that others painted and furnished it. This is evidence that he did not ‘build’ the cathedral because a building goes beyond its physical structure! Two, Ifeanyi Ubah was acknowledged, orally and in writing, by the Church. Unfortunately for the failed knight and his supporters, they boxed themselves into a corner by arguing that the acknowledgement or appreciation was not good enough or adequate. Words like ‘good’, ‘enough’, ‘appropriate’ and ‘adequate’ are not objective or scientific. They are subjective and depend on the person and the circumstances. When the butcher of Zamfara (who stole physical cash from government coffers, with no attempt at laundering) amputated Jangede for cattle theft or used scarce foreign exchange to import an underage wife from Egypt, he believed that it was good or appropriate. And while half a wrap of swallow is always enough for me, some people would demolish four of such wraps and ask for more.

It is also not obvious what agenda Okoye is pursuing. He has called for a regime change in Nnewi Catholic diocese; he has gone into the field of criminality when he declared that a Reverend Fr Nwagbara who died in a fire incident was murdered because he was a favourite to the Bishop-hood of Nnewi and he has accused the whole Bishops in Igbo-land ( catholics and non-Catholics) of ingratitude because Ifeanyi gave ALL of the fresh four-wheelers costing multiples of millions apiece.

Beyond displaying his shallow knowledge of Catholicism (some say he left Christianity about 5 years ago), he has successfully created the ‘Akachaam industry’, of which he is the chief beneficiary. You see his face ‘everywhere you go’ online these days, as he is busy canvassing his position. I think he has even created the Akachaam TV. He has given some singers, both old and new, a new lease of life as they sing akachaam with all seriousness. He has also enriched the Igbo lexicon as ‘chaam’ is now added to several words to indicate ‘ I no do again’. So, we now have ‘Anuchaam;( I no marry again); Abachaam( I no enter bus here again), Emechaam( I no do again) Ebichaam (I no longer live here again) Enyechaam( I no give again), aguchaam( I no study again), elichaam( I no eat again) and the one that concerns me ‘edechaam’, ‘I no write again.’

The Anglican diocese of Nnewi has asked him to reconsider his decision; Fr Mbaka has asked him to repent and apologise; one fellow has asked the Bishop to go after him like the shepherd who left 99 sheep to go in search of one, while Pastor Ononye had asked him to leave so that God would have time to attend to more serious supplicants. As for me, I will be watching, as I know that this will not be the end of the story.

 

Ik Muo, PhD, Dept of Bus Admin, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye