By LAW MEFOR, PhD

The new wave of insecurity in Anambra in particular and the South East has its roots in preaching wealth without work championed by the likes of Fr. Emmanuel Obimma, aka Ebube Muonso. They are merchants of fake miracles and fake prophecies who, for decades, have taught our youths to believe they can become wealthy and great without work, perseverance, and morality, all vital virtues for which Ndigbo were reputed in the past.

Such virtues that accounted for the outstanding successes of Ndi Anambra and Ndigbo in general are now assailed by their wrong teachings. Ndigbo work their way to the top, to borrow Soludo?s expression. The greatness attained by some is never by sudden flight but through their toiling upward at night while their contemporaries went to bed, to paraphrase the philosopher. Ndigbo persevere. They work quite hard and believe in God, who promised in Deuteronomy 28:12: ?The Lord will bless the work of your hands.? That?s the foundation and Igbo wealth code that Ebube Muonso and his fellow miracle merchants want to uproot.

Ebube Muonso started out over a decade ago and relies on esotericism and controversies to draw people to his church, one of which was the first-ever recorded stampede in Anambra State, which claimed many lives in his church in 2010.

Mahatma Gandhi brought the world?s attention to the seven mortal sins, namely: wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, religion without sacrifice, and politics without principle. Gandhi was a moral compass for the Indians of his generation and still is.

But that?s India. In Nigeria, the so-called men and women of God are selling prayers, prophecies, and miracles to the highest bidders, and many people believe them, thus manipulating their followers to believe in the sudden wealth their fake prophecies would produce.

What is more worrisome is that this trend has permeated the Catholic Church, where miracles and prophecy are ordinarily treated with circumspection. The Lord Bishops need to call Catholic priests with such tendencies to order. They are tainting the church.

These so-called prophets and miracle merchants command God to act on the misplaced prayer requests of the adorers of their churches who pay for such miracle prayers and prophecies. Ebube Muonso?s Adoration Ground at Uke, Anambra State, is typical. Brainwashing, fake miracles, fake prophecies, etc., are integral parts of their worship.

When Karl Marx postulated, ?Religion is the opium of the masses,? he certainly had Nigerians in mind, and these so-called men of God, like wolves in sheep?s clothing that Christ warned about, are cashing out big time on it. Many of them have sprawling estates, private jets, yachts, and a fleet of Rolls-Royces, etc., while their flocks wallow in poverty, ignorance, and disease.

Yet, one of them (Ebube Muonso) would have the temerity to insult Governor Soludo, who has instituted free education for all, free antenatal and delivery services for women, 1 Youth, 2 Skills, free digital skill training, small and medium business support schemes with soft loans up to N10m without collateral, etc., to help the poor. One wonders who is a better Christian.

Christ fed the poor, but these men of God fleece the poor. They sell their own portraits, anointing oil, and holy water to the poor worshippers, who they drive emotionally to frenzy with the mumbo-jumbo and abracadabra they present as speaking in tongues. The worshippers buy the articles by faith, believing they are sacramentals. If they work for them ? and they rarely and coincidentally do ? it has nothing to do with these charlatans who have called themselves prophets to milk the poor, claiming that God called them. Truly, spiritual materials are not auctioned like you find with these fake prophets. Healing, the Bible says, is God?s children?s bread ? and not to be sold.

As a knighted Catholic and practising Christian, one is aware of what the book of James tells us: James 2:26 says, ?For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also,? the same eternal words uttered by Mahatma Gandhi when he postulated that wealth without work is a moral and mortal sin.

Indeed, there is a perfect correlation between Ebube Muonso?s preaching about miracles without work and crime and criminality. For example, there are worshippers in his church praying for miracles at the hours they ought to be at work. The solution to hardship is hard work, good health, and trust in God, not prayers alone. One has to work and pray, not pray and pray. But Ebube Muonso and his ilk encourage indolence rather than hard work, and it has consequences. These so-called men of God do nothing about the empowerment of the youth and the poor. No loan schemes or scholarships to help suffering widows and orphans. The most expensive schools, far beyond the reach of the poor, are run and owned by them. Ironically, the schools are built with tithes and offerings and the sowing of seeds.

Miracles happen but are exceptions, never the rule, even in the time of Christ. So, teaching people to hope in miracles and wealth without work is evil because it goads millions of our people the wrong way and into a life of depression, suicide, and crime/insecurity. Such preaching has created social disorders and failures rather than successful people and is therefore more of a problem than a solution. It attacks the Igbo wealth code, which is hard work, integrity, patience, and belief in God.

Miracle prayers for wealth without work are perfectly correlated with crime, and here is how. Most people who are praying for sudden wealth, in their desperation, sink deeper into rituals and idolatry. Today, many youths are seen burying cows alive or drowning cows in rivers as sacrifice. Ritual killings are part of it. ?Ego Mbute? (stupendous wealth) and ?Oke Ite? (money-making juju) go hand in hand, and ?Oke Ite? is said to involve human sacrifice. They are all byproducts of Ebube Muonso?s kind of preaching and a major part of the insecurity in Anambra and the South East that must be rooted out.

Governor Soludo has condemned fake prophets and fake native doctors and is out for their checks. But to me, there is a need to extend the searchlight to fake prophets and churches where fake miracles and fake prophecies are bandied about to confuse and fleece the poor and unsuspecting members of the public. He needs to be told in unambiguous terms that many of the youths he has misled with fake prophecies are stranded, and some have taken to crime and criminality, which has culminated in and accounts in part for the insecurity he complains about today. He needs to repent, ask God?s forgiveness, and join the governor in finding a lasting solution to the insecurity in the state.

Walking the talk, Governor Soludo is set to launch and unleash Operation Udo Ga-Achi to deal decisively with insecurity, crime, and criminality in the state. Over 160 trucks and special-purpose vehicles have been procured and branded for the purpose. The joint operation will involve the six leading security agencies: the armed forces, the police, the Anambra Vigilante Group, and all.

Meanwhile, the application of the Anambra State Anti-kidnapping Law has commenced. Any property used for kidnapping will be confiscated by the government and levelled to the ground as a deterrent, and some buildings have gone down already since the first week of January 2025.

Public beware! Let me use this opportunity to advise Ndi Anambra, who built houses and live outside the state, about ensuring that such buildings are not used for criminal activities, particularly kidnapping. Ignorance of the law, as they say, is not an excuse.

Anambra is rising because solution is here! There is nothing the diatribe of a million Ebube Muonsos can do to stop the moving train.

?Law Mefor, PhD, is the Information Commissioner for Anambra State. E-mail: drlawmefor@gmail.com; X: @DrLaw_Mefor

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