Akpabio @ the Vatican
By Tunde Asaju
A Prophet is not without honour except in his own home. While enemies of our venerable Godswill Akpabio were busy trying to denigrate him, President Tinubu, the man whose campaign bred emergency bishops made an unprecedented decision over the weekend.
The President returned just on time. Imagine if he had remained in Paris when His Holiness Pope Francis breathed his last. Enemies of progress would have said he knew something about it. You can’t imagine how sad that would have made the celestial beings that revealed to ‘Pastor’ Chris Oyakhilome who went to heaven and brought the revelation that God was punishing the late Pope for taking the earthly vaccine instead of asking Jah for divine protection against Covid19. As a result, his longevity certificate was withdrawn. He could have lived twice his unripe age of 88 years. The God of Methuselah is still in the business of miracles, ask the author of the Rhapsody of Realities. God help the rest of us stubborn ones that took that mark of death and are now living on borrowed time on gari and ẹpa.
Anyway, I digress. President Tinubu had at least one serving Cardinal he could have sent to represent him at the Holy See, but that could have been misinterpreted. If the President had sent his wife, an ordained pastor of the redeemed to a church that doesn’t recognize or ordain women as priests, even Pastor Adeboye would have revoked her license to preach.
Our President is full of divine wisdom as epitomized in the way he is piloting the affairs of this nation even when he is very far away in Nigeria’s 37th State in Paris. To show that he understands the power of penitence and how Paul found redemption on the way to Damascus, the president picked the only man in his government accused of sexual assault without a scintilla of proof.
It takes divine wisdom to trace the trajectory of the late Pope who had to purge the Vatican of sexual predators in cassock by firing accused priests. He went as far as Canada to offer apologies for priests that abused children long before he graduated from seminary.
Everyone knows that our revered President of the Senate, Chief Godswill Akpabio has two good reasons to be Nigeria’s Special Envoy to the Vatican City to attend the funeral of the Pope.
For one, he is a devout Catholic who built an altar in his personal home that he is proud to show off to people; allegedly more to female colleagues who might be willing to come for private viewing.
In the Vatican City, the embattled President of the Senate had a State-sponsored opportunity to do sober reflections on his actions at the Dome, built as a sacred altar for democracy. Such reflections, especially at the funeral of a venerable Pope could lead to repentance and a change of heart on the way things have gone under his leadership at the Dome.
At solemn moments, Catholics are made to respond to these words in the Lord’s Prayer -Et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nos tris, ” meaning – forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”
It’s the kind of message that Akpabio needed to hear, as he could have reminisced on his actions as the Chief Priest of the Senate.
Who knows, the Spirit might have whispered to Akpabio to recall and reinstate Kogi Centtal Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan without preconditions even as God commands his children.
We all have been praying that the Conclave does not repeat the mistake of choosing a non-cardibal as the new Pope, because we don’t want to lose our Senate president to the divine order. Penitence is enough. We don’t want him canonized as yet even though we know he is a saint who is revered in APC circles (sorry and PDP too since he has tasted both parties).
Thank you, President Tinubu for not choosing any of those Bishops you promoted from mechanical garages and motor parks to go and represent Christians at this all-important event. It’s been a long time since the campaigns and the special job they were ordained to do. They could have forgotten how to do the signum crucis or the sign of the cross. That could have been more embarrassing than watching the Great Donald Trump eating candy at the late Pope’s funeral. In nominee Patti’s, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti… ‘Aaaamen’.
Somebody tell me that Akpabio will preside as usual on Tuesday. I am looking forward to it and as are all loyal citizens.
