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Oliver Okpala
Recently, crisis brewed in the Enugu Province of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion. It started at the last bishops’ conference of the Church, where allegations and counter-allegations were traded.
There was a threat of legal action against bishops, cannons and other members of the clergy in the province. It was indeed a serious issue that was about to lead to a total conflagration in the province.
Amid this inferno of a sort, some concerned members of the church reached out to the iconic industrialist, philanthropist and international business mogul, Prince Arthur Eze, and reported the issue to him as a member of the Anglican Church. Prince Eze brokered peace between the contending clergy. As one with a Christlike heart, he engineered a return of peace to the province, to the admiration of all.
That peace, tranquility and unity have returned to the province is a thing of joy to all. The fact that this was achieved through the instrumentality of Prince Eze is a milestone, which members of the province are proud of.
Now that Prince Eze has used his fatherly office to douse the tension and ensured unity among the clergy and members of the church, everyone should commend him for his godly disposition, which is to build and not to scatter.
If Nigerian leaders can commit themselves to the ideals of peace and peaceful coexistence wherever they may be, our country would rise above the myriads of conflicts that have torn different layers of our society apart. Prince Eze has shown that, no matter how rich we are, we must not be carried away by earthly wealth and we must recognise God as the source of all that we have.
So, no matter how highly placed we are, we must commit ourselves to the doctrines of working for peace and tranquility, as espoused by Christ our Lord. By this and other gestures, Prince Eze has established himself as a modern Messiah and peacekeeper, a path we are all enjoined to follow.
The parties involved must now realise that they need the support of everybody in the province because a tree cannot make a forest. They must not forget their ecclesiastical positions. The entire saga has shown that there can be no peace if a superior does not take advise from his subordinates or allow them to ventilate their views and ideas on issues as they come up.
The church of Christ is a place for humility and love, the bedrock for understanding and impact, for Apostle Paul admonished the Ephesians to “submit themselves to one another in reverence of Christ.”
Now, the Enugu Province of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, is marching on in peace and tranquility and the gates of hell shall not prevail!
•Okpala, a public affairs analyst, writes from Enugu
