- By Gbenga Onayiga
- Published 30/08/2009
Consequent upon the retirement of the 2nd Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) Most Revd J.A. Adetiloye in December 1999, the Most Revd Peter J. Akinola was by Divine providence, duly elected the 3rd Primate of the Church of Nigeria on Tuesday, February 22, 2000. Archbishop Akinola, who was called from the carpentry of wood and materials to the carpentry of the Church of God, eventually proved himself a master craft man who visualizes a design and then perfectly brings it to reality. Before his election, Archbishop Akinola, who prior to his election as Primate was the Dean, Church of Nigeria, the Archbishop of the Province III (Northern Dioceses) and Bishop of Abuja, had by Divine Grace and Enablement built the Diocese of Abuja literally from nothing to the most viable Diocese of the Church of Nigeria. Thus for those who knew him, it was little wonder that his emergence as the Primate would definitely take the Church of Nigeria to a very high pedestal.
By the time Akinola became Primate, the Church of Nigeria had been structured into three ecclesiastical provinces namely Province I, Province II, and Province III. It had 76 Dioceses and 76 Bishops. The Office of the Primate was situated at whatever Diocese the Primate emerged from. Most of the Churches were located in urban settings with thousands of villages yet to be reached by the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. There was manifest raw paganism and syncretism; spirituality was shallow and many adherents paid little attention to Bible study, prayer and fasting. The spiritual growth rate of the Church was significantly low though the Church witnessed a significant numerical growth. There were also shortages in manpower and funds to the point that many Dioceses and Bishops had to virtually beg in order to survive. Perhaps due to the lack of fund, many churches had evidently done away with works of charity and caring for the needy.
If an achiever or an accomplished man is one who pursues set goals and accomplishes same; then the man, Peter Akinola is an undisputable achiever and an accomplished man. No sooner was he elected Primate than he undertook a frank and introspective appraisal of the church’s situation, a visualization of the desired situation and charting a course.
Believing in a shared vision, the new Primate, Peter Akinola, used the occasion of his presentation in Abuja on March 25, 2000 to flag off the process of articulating the vision of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion). Just two days after his presentation (March 25 -27) Akinola embarked on a 2-day visioning exercise with over 400 leaders of the church made up of all the bishops, some clergies and laities representing all the Dioceses of the Church of Nigeria. He brought in some experts in visioning process including Chief Ernest Shonekan, former Head of State and Chairman, Vision 2010 and Prof Alele Williams, Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin as facilitators. The propositions of this body which were based on the vision which the Primate sold to them were harmonized and eventually adopted as the Vision of the Church of Nigeria by the Church of Nigeria Standing Committee on June 5, 2000 at Owerri. The Vision states that:
The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) shall be Bible based, spiritually dynamic, united, disciplined, self supporting, committed to pragmatic evangelism, social welfare and a church that epitomizes the genuine
love of Christ.
The Vision is made up of five essential elements namely: Sustainable Spirituality, Rustic Evangelism and Church planting, Caring, Playing of active roles within the Anglican Communion and Ecumenical bodies and Self Reliance.
So from the onset, the Archbishop set a clear cut agenda for his Primacy. He made it very clear where, under God, he would lead the church of God to in ten years.
A HERO OF OUR TIME
Now, as the ten year tenure of the Primate is coming to an end, the question is: How far has he gone in realizing his vision? What has he bequeathed to his successor who will be elected shortly?
As a matter of fact, issues like this do not need to be overlaboured because, as one of our adages has it: "The protruding stomach of a pregnant woman cannot be covered with hand." It is there for everyone to see. Certainly, everyone can see what Church of Nigeria has become. But without knowing what it was, just a decade ago, and how it became what it is, not only that one may not appreciate what God has done for his church through this man, Peter Akinola, one may also misconceive some of the acts which have been done as necessary means to the desired change. One may as well yield to the distortions of some mischief makers with ulterior motives.
An objective review of Primate Akinola’s transformative journey in leading or bringing the Church of Nigeria from where it was to where it is, speaks volumes about this doyen of apostle of Christ. He is known to be a focused man, a man of strong will, high spirituality and sound doctrine, a missionary to the core, a simple and selfless man, a tireless man full of wisdom and grace, a man willing to give his whole being or enter into trouble for the sake of the work of God, a courageous and outspoken man, a mentor and disciple of the first order, a master planner and an executor. Indeed, Primate Akinola, as the International US-based Time Magazine twice named him (in 2006 and 2007), is an acknowledged influential man (one of the 100 in the whole world) who has got the "clout" and "power" to move, not only the church, but also the world. He is the hero of our time.
But what actually has Primate Akinola done to earn the above accolade ? What specifically has he done to realize the set goals of the vision?
All cannot be recounted. But let’s start with his administrative wizardry and then take a look at the marked elements of the accomplished vision.
It is one thing to know what is wrong and what to do to correct it, it is another to be able to deliver on the prescribed action plans. Anyone conversant with the goings-on in the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) in the past ten years cannot help but appreciate Archbishop Akinola’s ingenuity in organizing structures and managing resources. Under his astute administration, some of the various Vision Committees—‘institutional requirements for implementing the Vision’ have developed into Directorates with Directors that handle the different aspects of the Church’s affairs.
These include:
i. Committee on Youth, Women’s Work and Social Welfare
ii. Finance/Investment
iii. Theological and Doctrinal Matters
iv. Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations
v. Global Inter-Anglican Relations
vi. Mission and Evangelism
vii. Communications
With this administrative machinery Archbishop Akinola has been able to harness the Church’s resources for greater effectiveness. The good thing in this area is his penchant for submitting his operations for the consideration of the majority of the Church’s membership through the arms of the Church (the General Synod and its Standing Committee). The women were also carried along as they met and deliberated regularly on relevant issues at the Mothers’ Union and Women’s Guild national meetings under the amiable leadership of Mrs. Susan Akinola (Mama Primate). It is in this way that the Church arrived at many landmark decisions which are behind the much progress currently witnessed in the Church.
The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) under Akinola’s Primacy identified the necessary connection between governance, propagation and sustainability and the need for the Church to be self-reliant in these matters. Accordingly, the Church has pursued these objectives in the following ways:
Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, but anyone who does not think that Akinola’s Primacy is a resounding success will have an uphill task for a better comparison, as the Church has never had it so good. In fact Archbishop Akinola has succeeded in putting the Primacy of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) at a level that will take a very long time to equal nationally, regionally and globally. By the foregone indications, he has immensely endowed the future generation of Anglicans in many unprecedented ways.
Perhaps the best we can do is pray for a worthy successor who will be humble enough to continue the good work already started by building on the foundation already laid. Such a successor will, of course, have to identify those areas of the vision that call for a general review, taking cognizance of today’s peculiarities and faithfully implementing them so as to take the church to the next level.
Gbenga Onayiga is the Diocesan Communicator, Anglican Diocese of Abuja.
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