Udo Silas writes on the meanings and interpretations in the theme of the upcoming annual December Christmas carol in Akwa Ibom State

 Worship was exhilarating. Our then presiding teacher had just delivered a soul stirring, thought provoking sermon as usual. Soon service was over and it was time for breakfast. Breakfast after service has always part of our retinue at Men In Worship, MIW.

 And then this almost heavily built, fair complexioned guy of average height, tugged at my arm. “Can I please have a word with you outside?” he said. He must have been invited as a guest speaker. I remember he had spoken to the congregation for about 10 minutes. I recall he said all the right things.

 But the things he told me outside did not complement the things I had heard him say inside. Paraphrased he enjoined me not to joke with the gift God has impacted on the fold. He spoke of having connections to the Hilltop, the seat of power in Akwa Ibom. He spoke about how close he was to a certain bishopric individual and how he was ready to give the fold access to the Hilltop mansion. That once we had the ear of the Hilltop our coast would enlarge. It didn’t matter to him that at the time I was Senior Special Assistant to the then governor. I concluded it was possible he didn’t know.

 I didn’t tell anyone of this encounter not until the next Monday when he showed up at my residence for our last Monday of the month evening service. Being a men’s only fellowship at our Men In Worship, our last Monday’s worship allows our spouses to worship with us.

 By the time I alighted from my living room to join the service, Pastor X was already ministering. I had no inkling he would be there. He already had the floor. I let the Almighty take charge.

 What happened next can be attested by many people still living. Pastor X proceeded to ask ‘Emmanuel to please rise’. Five seconds later no one rose. “The Lord says I should speak to an Emmanuel here tonight” he repeated. Again, no one rose. “Well, Emmanuel may not be your first name, but I heard Emmanuel. Maybe your middle name or even your father’s name” he said. Still no one rose. At this point our presiding teacher tactfully started a worship song, taking care of proceedings. The next day the council of elders met and set the ground rules for inviting guest speakers.

 This incident played up in my mind as I glimpse for the umpteenth time, the promo for our state’s upcoming annual December Christmas Carol, with its theme; “Emmanuel….God is with us”

 I do not know where Pastor X is today. Men like that are legion in Akwa Ibom as I am sure elsewhere. But I can only speak what I have seen, experienced and know.

 They have skillfully juxtaposed the psychology of the led against the carnality of the leadership and developed a handbook. While the led pretends to Godly subservience, the leadership strut their religiosity in the gallery of deceit.

 To men like Pastor X all is fair in the quest to propagate God and His prophecies. Their crave for and desperation to belong, and exude earthly affluence is a direct reflection of how our society has come to interpret anointing. In Akwa Ibom, more respect is accorded any pastor or man of God that dines and genuflects at executive tables. Apologies The Oyi of Oyi. Access to and acceptance by the government in power is surely a reflection of how high in God’s Kingdom  the pastor is.

 Pastor X may very well be Akan Weeks writ large. Big and connected enough to win the contract of spiritually cleansing the 31 local councils in Akwa Ibom. Big and connected enough to induce government to partake in the processes and momentum that led to the murder of innocents that fatal morning in Uyo Village Road. 

 Does it mean God is with us because we have allegedly paid compensation to the families that lost dear ones at the Reigners Chapel tragedy? Does it mean families sacrificed their loved ones to prove to us that God is with us? If Emmanuel had died in that needless show of spiritual vacuity, would God still have been with us? If Emmanuel had died in that event would the theme of the upcoming carol night still had been; Emmanuel, God is with us”?

 These questions notwithstanding, there is no shred of doubt that Emmanuel is with us. He survived a moment that many families would never forget. Their memories lie at the tomb of kindred spirits. Emmanuel is with us because Akan weeks lives. Yes, Weeks has sprouted yet another building somewhere in Uyo, a symbol of God’s benevolence. Emmanuel is with us the same way Weeks is with us. Theirs is a two-some that would not see, hear or speak any truth that remotely reminds any of that fatal Reigners morning.

 We may never in this life determine culpability in the Reigners Affair because of course Emmanuel is with us. The white paper on that devil’s morning is still being written. But because Emmanuel is with us we can never forget. Emmanuel is the umbilical cord that would always trigger the pain of our families gone. He is the oracle of God so we can do nothing. Hear him
“Let me warn, those who perpetuate all forms of mischief in our state will not benefit from the mercy of God this year…Whether you say ‘amen’ or not, I am talking as the oracle of God”
in Emmanuel’s world, mischief-makers are worse than murderers. It is very clear that the god of Akwa Ibom would show mercy on Weeks and his cohorts before common mischief-makers. That is the nature of the Akwa Ibom god.

 Yes, Emmanuel, the god of Akwa Ibom is with us. Well, this may not have been the underlying motive in the theme of our upcoming Guinness Record carol night. After all, the verse is in our holy grail. But the theme uncannily serves up the carnality and vanity of leadership. No, it is not wrong to choose what we consider the most apt verse that mirrors our motive for worship. But it is also right to point out the pun in the theme. Perhaps if not for claims to oracleship, it would have been best dismissed as no pun intended.

 So if we didn’t know before. Now we know. Emmanuel our god is with us. 

 Silas, a journalist and public affairs analyst, was former CEO, Akwa Ibom Newspaper Publishing Company Ltd